NewsClick

NewsClick
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • International
  • Sports
  • Podcasts
  • Articles
  • Videos
search
menu
  • All Podcasts
  • All Articles
  • Newsclick Articles
  • All Videos
  • Newsclick Videos
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • Sports
  • International
  • Africa
  • Latin America
  • Palestine
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • US
  • West Asia
About us
Contact us
Subscribe
Follow us Facebook - Newsclick Twitter - Newsclick RSS - Newsclick
close menu
Environment
India

Super Cyclone ‘Fani’ Reaches Odisha with Ferocious Winds of Speed 180 Kms Per Hour

Till now, 3 people have been reported to have died in a wall collapse due to the ravaging winds. Trees and electricity poles have been uprooted in Puri and Bhubaneswar, bringing the cities to a standstill.
Sandipan Talukdar
03 May 2019
Super Cyclone ‘Fani’ Reaches Odisha
Image for representational use only.Image Courtesy : The Indian Express

India’s east coast is witnessing the wrath of Fani, the super cyclone that first formed in the Bay of Bengal on April 25. Fani finally made the landfall today morning at around 8 o’clock in the city of Puri in Odisha. The landfall wind speed has been reported to be 175-180 kilometres per hour (km/hr) with occasional gusts of around 200 km/hr enabling it to be denoted as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm and capable of devastation as a category 4 hurricane can do. Till now, 3 people have been reported to have died in a wall collapse due to the ravaging winds. Trees and electricity poles have been uprooted in Puri and Bhubaneswar, bringing the cities to a standstill.

Over 11 lakh people in the state of Odisha have been evacuated before the cyclone could make the landfall, thanks to the timely predictions done by the meteorological department. Almost 14 districts in the state of Odisha are in the path of the deadly cyclone that include Ganjam, Khurda, Naygarh, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, etc. Apart from Odisha, the other state where large scale evacuations have been done is West Bengal, especially in the coastal areas neighbouring the Digha beach. The evacuated people have been housed in makeshift shelters in several places in Odisha and Bengal.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the speed of the winds would come down within 24 hours and the cyclone would move North East of Odisha and Bengal. Neighbouring country Bangladesh is also predicted to fall under the destructive effects of Fani.

Also Read: Packing Furious Winds, Heavy Rains, Cyclone Fani Batters Odisha Coast

Difficulty in Predicting Fani

Fani has been difficult to predict, especially its track and speed. After forming as a low pressure area over equatorial Indian Ocean and South East of Bay of Bengal, and intensifying thereafter, Fani initially moved towards Sri Lanka and forecasters were thinking of a landfall somewhere in the Tamil Nadu coast. However, it changed its direction as well as pace and remained in the Bay of Bengal for almost eight days. While remaining in the Bay, the cyclone became more intense and developed as an extremely severe cyclonic storm. Storms of such kinds snuffle warm waters on the sea surface and become progressively intense.

The prediction of Fani’s landfall time was also difficult for the meteorologists. The IMD predicted that Fani will hit Odisha on May 4, then it was revised to be on evening of May 3. It was only yesterday that Fani made its landfall in afternoon of May 3, with its effects showing today.

India’s East Coast: A Cyclone Prone Area

Cyclonic devastations have become quite a regular phenomenon in India’s east coast as well as Bangladesh. The cyclone season can last from April to December and in the last couple of years, the phenomenon has scaled up. The primary factor of the cyclones remains to be the Bay of Bengal.

Memories have not quite fed away about the super cyclone that hit Odisha in October 1999 which left 10,000 people dead. At the time of landfall, the speed of the winds was 260 km/hr and the cyclone lasted for almost 30 hours. It was the most ravaging cyclone that India had ever experienced. Due to the lack of availability of prior predictions and a well acquainted disaster management system, India had very less chance of saving lives. But the country, since then, has developed its meteorological prediction infrastructure to a very decent level. Cyclone Titli last year and the Hud Hud in 2014 also caused widespread destruction.

The cyclone Ockhi in 2017 was also an unusual one. It started in the Bay of Bengal and changed its direction towards the Arabian Sea and made the landfall in Gujarat.

Cyclone Fani
Super Cyclones
Indian Meteorological Department
Odisha
West Bengal
Puri
Digha Beach
Bangladesh
Bay of Bengal
East Coast of India
Cyclone Titli
Cyclone Hud Hud
Cyclone Ockhi
Disaster Management in India
Related Stories
Bengal Long March

Workers' Long March, IR Code, Uruguay Elections and More

Niyamgiri: Dongria Kondh Girls Made to Clean Hindu Temples 

Niyamgiri: Dongria Kondh Girls Made to Clean Hindu Temples 

muslim faculty teaching sanskrit in west bengal

Not 1 But 30 Muslim Professors Teach Sanskrit in Bengal

Bengal IT-ITES Union Holds First Formal Rally in Kolkata

Bengal IT-ITES Union Holds First Formal Rally in Kolkata

Slum Dwellers Hold Massive March

Slum Dwellers Hold Massive March Against Eviction Notice in Bhubaneswar

Unlike BHU, Muslim Sanskrit Teacher in Bengal’s Belur College Gets Warm Welcome

Unlike BHU, Muslim Sanskrit Teacher in Bengal’s Belur College Gets Warm Welcome

Open Mind on Deocha Pachami

Open Mind on Deocha Pachami Coal Project, Says Paschim Banga Adivasi Gaonta

A speaker addresses the conference

Bengali Muslims Seek Answers for Their Low Percentage in Jobs

Presidency University, Students’ Federation of India, SFI, Students Union. Presidency Students Union Election, Students Politics, West Bengal

SFI Wins All Posts in Presidency University After 9 Years

WB Para-Teachers’ Protest Enters Day 5, Govt Keeps Mum

WB Para-Teachers’ Protest Enters Day 5, Govt Keeps Mum


Related Stories

M.K. Bhadrakumar

Afghanistan, Bangladesh Deserve Our Respect

12 December 2019
This had to happen: The friendliest and the closest neighbour that India ever had since its independence, Afghanistan, has cast aside diplomatic ni
By Fighting Over Temple
Aritra Singha

By Fighting Over Temple and Mosques BJP Cannot Provide Employment to India's Youth: Left Front in Bengal

07 December 2019
Kolkata: Shataf Balsar, a teenager, took part in the rally organised by the Left Front from Esplanade to Rajabazar in Kolkata, dem
Workers’ Long March in Bengal
Ditsa Bhattacharya

Workers’ Long March in Bengal Enters 6th Day After Covering 137 KM

05 December 2019
In the last five days, the workers’ long march has covered 137 km out of the total distance of 283 km between Chittaranjan in Paschim Bardhaman dis

Pagination

  • Next page ››

More

  • Afghanistan, Bangladesh Deserve Our Respect

  • Four Ways Citizens Can Repel Dangers of All-India NRC

  • Kashmir

    Abrogation of Art 370: How Valley Students Are Suffering

  • Karnataka: Marching Anganwadi

    Karnataka: Marching Anganwadi Workers Receive Written Assurance, Defer Protest

  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with
about
contact