- Title: INDIA: Cyclone Phailin pounds India, rescuers assess damage
- Date: 13th October 2013
- Summary: PARADIP, ODISHA, INDIA (OCTOBER 13, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) VARIOUS OF FALLEN TREES ON ROAD/ DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY STORM MAN WALKING IN THE STREET VARIOUS OF UPROOTED TREE CAR PARKED ON EMPTY STREET HYDERABAD, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA (OCTOBER 13, 2013) ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DISASTER MANAGEMENT COMMISSIONER FOR ANDHRA P
- Embargoed: 28th October 2013 19:43
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Disasters,Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA9TT6X8SNW1FYYCEDZ8GLR6Y5G
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: India's strongest storm in 14 years left a trail of destruction along the country's east coast on Sunday (October 13), but little loss of life was reported after close to a million people took refuge in shelters.
Cyclone Phailin was expected to dissipate within 36 hours, losing momentum as it headed inland after making landfall on Saturday from the Bay of Bengal, bringing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph) to rip up homes and tear down trees.
Authorities in the state of Odisha said the death toll stood at seven people, all killed as winds whipped the coast before the storm slammed in, four by falling trees and one when the walls of her mud house collapsed.
The cyclone was one of three major storms over Asia on Sunday. The smaller Typhoon Nari was approaching Vietnam and Typhoon Wipha loomed over the Pacific.
At least 873,000 people in Odisha and adjacent Andhra Pradesh spent the night in shelters, some of which had been built after a 1999 storm killed 10,000 in the same area. Others sought safety in schools or temples, in an exercise disaster management officials called one of India's largest evacuations.
Disaster Management Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh, T Radha said there was just one fatality and gave reassurances that all aspects were under control.
"Phailin toofan (cyclonic storm) crossed our state without causing much damage; only one human death is there. About thirty to forty animals reached a Goshala (shelter for animals); restoration work of electricity, water, drinking water and breached tanks has already taken up, we are hoping to restore the electricity within two days, water supply will also be restored in Srikakulam district within two days," said Radha.
The London-based storm tracking service Tropical Storm Risk placed Phailin in the most intense Category 5 of powerful storms, evoking memories of a devastating 'super cyclone' that killed 10,000 people in India's east coast in 1999. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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