Cyclone Phailin set to batter Odisha, Andhra Pradesh today ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: Touching wind speeds of 210-220 km an hour, Cyclone Phailin is set to hit the Odisha coast between Paradip and Kalingapatnam with full fury on Saturday evening, whipping up a storm surge up to 10 feet above the tide level posing a threat to low-lying villages. Anticipating the cyclones fury, the state government began Odishas biggest ever evacuation of shifting more than three lakh people out of harms way as chief minister Naveen Patnaik promised there would be zero casualties. The evacuation is expected to be complete by Saturday morning. Met sources said the cyclones exact landfall is likely to be around the popular beach destination of Gopalpur and coastal Odisha as well as inland areas are expected to receive heavy rainfall likely to last till Sunday. Although the Met is not categorizing Phailin as a super cyclone as it is yet to cross the 220 kmph barrier, there is little doubt that Odisha was bracing for a battering with the storm reported just 400 km south east of Gopalpur at 9pm on Friday. Foreign agencies claimed Indian authorities are underestimating Phailin, quoting London-based Tropical Storm and US Navys joint typhoon warning centre as forecasting winds up to 315 kmph. Indian agencies, however, said wind speeds are much lower. The impact of Phailin is expected to be narrow-focused, increasing the prospects of localized damage although a part of the impact zone is hilly and can help dissipate the storm. While the area under threat is not heavily built up, there are large fishing communities exposed to the storm fury. If the storms arrival coincides with high tide, the water levels will be higher. Phailins effects are likely to be widespread, inundating not only large parts of northern Odisha, but also causing rainfall in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and east Madhya Pradesh. The rains are likely to be heavy and continuous.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 02:30:25 +0000
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