Rain lashed Kolkata as cyclone Fani hits West Bengal by crossing Kharagpur earlier on Saturday. Trees were uprooted in towns in coastal West Bengal including Digha, Mandarmani, Tajpur, Sandehskhali, and Contai as the storm surge forward. After crossing Kharagpur, it moved further in North-East direction with approximately a wind speed of 90 km/hour. NDRF personnel were clearing the uprooted trees from the road at Digha and other places
Wind gusting at over 100 kmph, accompanied by heavy rains, Fani lashed cities and towns in coastal Bengal including Digha, Mandarmani, Tajpur and Contai while the effects of the storm could also be felt in cities like Kharagpur and Burdwan as trees were uprooted and metal hoardings gave way. Parts of Kolkata and the suburbs also received moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday afternoon.
Most parts of Assam witnessed incessant rains on Saturday due to the impact of cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades. Following the rains, the state government has issued an alert to suspend ferry services between Jorhat and Majuli, Guwahati and North Guwahati, Dhubri and other places from Saturday to Sunday
While flight services from Guwahati has been suspended till Saturday evening, the Northeast Frontier Railway has also cancelled several trains to Kolkata and Odisha. Similarly, trains from Kolkata and Odisha to Assam were also cancelled. Weather experts at the Regional Meteorological Centre at Borjhar had warned of heavy rains accompanied by strong winds to lash the northeastern states on Saturday and Sunday
Assam government had earlier warned the district administrations to remain alert ahead of Fani and deployed 40 companies of National Disaster Rescue Force at some vulnerable locations across the state.
Two people were killed in Odisha on Friday after a severe tropical cyclone made landfall on the eastern coast of the country on Friday, with wind speed of up to 200 km per hour pounding the states coastal region, massively damaging property and disrupting flight operations, communication, rail and road connectivity
In Odisha, about 10,000 villages and 52 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were likely to be affected by the cyclonic storm. The state has activated an emergency helpline number -- +91674253417 -- for Cyclone Fani. The two deaths in Odisha were reportedly caused by falling trees, authorities said
In Odisha, widespread damages to property have been reported as thousands of trees and electricity poles were uprooted under the impact of the cyclonic storm which made its landfall in Puri
The Indian Railway has cancelled 223 trains in the Bhadrak-Vizianagaram section along the coastal lines of Odisha on the Kolkata-Chennai route till May 4, officials said
The airports in Odisha and West Bengal have been shut down, resulting in the cancellation of many flights. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has directed his Ministry officials to continuously monitor the situation.
The Assam government too has sounded an alert following a warning of the cyclone hitting the state and other parts of the northeastern region in the early hours of Saturday. The cyclone is also expected to affect the regular pattern of weather conditions in some parts of Nepal, weather officials said
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) unit in Bhubaneswar reported extensive damage hours after the cyclone made its landfall. The institute also cancelled a post graduate examination scheduled to be held on May 5
The Army, Navy and Air Force were keeping a strict vigil on the developments in the coastal region. J.P. Sharma, a top official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said, "The actual work will start once the storm passes over, leaving behind the destruction in its path."
The cyclone started crossing into the Odisha coast close to Puri between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. The process of the landfall continued till 1 p.m, completely throwing normal life out of gear. About a million people were evacuated to safer places in Odisha due to the cyclonic storm. The met department said that heavy rainfall will continue across the state
Three Indian Navy warships -- Sahyadri, Ranvir and Kadmatt -- have been put on stand-by with relief materials and medical teams. Other naval vessels were also kept on stand-by at Visakhapatnam from where teams of naval divers have been moved to Odisha
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall lashed Kolkata and the Gangetic West Bengal after cyclone Fani made its landfall. The cyclone with a wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 115 kmph was expected to hit the state on Friday midnight or early on Saturday. The cyclone was located over 400 km southwest of Kolkata and over 350 km southwest of Digha, the sea resort in East Midnapore district
Six teams of NDRF have been deployed in Jhargram, West Medinipur, East Medinipur, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts. The state government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation have decided to shift people living in low lying areas to safer places. A toll-free helpline number, 1070, has been shared for assistance. The heavy rains could also cause Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers to overflow, leading to floods in the region, officials warned
ADVERTISEMENT