India has evacuated more than 300,000 people along its northeast coastline by boat, bus and train, as a severe cyclone will make landfall on May 3. In fact, many villagers are piling household possessions on to trucks prior to leaving their homes.
As Reuters reports, cyclonic storm Fani was churning up the Bay of Bengal about 320 km south-southwest of the Hindu temple town of Puri, in an area where special trains were put on to evacuate tourists and the beaches were empty.
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Overall, around 1.2 million people are expected to be evacuated from low-lying areas of 15 districts in the eastern state of Odisha, heading to cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings, authorities said.
Fani was generating maximum sustained winds of 170-180 km per hour, according to India’s Meteorological Department (IMD), while cyclone tracker Tropical Storm Risk rated Fani a mid-range category 3 storm.
The navy will also use seven warships, with six planes and seven helicopters being on standby along with divers, rubber boats, medical teams and relief materials.
Authorities have also shut operations at two major ports, Paradip and Visakhapatnam, while ships have been ordered to move out to avoid damage.
What is more, Odisha state government has used hundreds of disaster management personnel, closed schools and colleges and called doctors and other health officials not to go on leave until May 15.
India’s cyclone season can last from April to December, with severe storms hitting coastal cities, causing deaths and damages to crops and property in both India and Bangladesh.
Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, said that currently its 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) Paradip refinery in Odisha state did not had to shut down.
