250,000 hit in Odisha as cyclone brings floods

Agencies/BhubaneswarThe death toll from Cyclone Phailin rose to at least 26 in eastern India as 250,000 people were affected by floods in the region, officials said. The storm approached from the Bay of Bengal on Saturday night with winds of up to 200kph, leaving a trail of destruction in the coastal districts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Disaster management officials said 22 people were killed by the collapse of houses and falling trees, with one more death confirmed in Andhra Pradesh. Three more people perished in floods due to heavy rains, officials at the Odisha relief control room said. “Flooding in Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga rivers has hit three districts,” state relief official P K Mohapatra said by phone. “Around 250,000 people have been affected. We have pressed our rescue teams to help stranded people or evacuate them. Food packets are also being air-dropped,” he said. Towns and villages were inundated as river levels rose, causing panic, NDTV news channel reported. Flood warnings were also issued in adjoining Bihar state where the Kosi and Gandak rivers were at high levels. Hundreds of thousands of people who fled the strongest cyclone in 14 years returned home to scenes of devastation. As a massive relief operation kicked into gear, teams raced to restore power and other services. Casualties were minimised after 1mn people spent the night huddled in shelters, temples and schools during the ferocious storm, in what officials said was India’s largest-ever evacuation operation. President Pranab Mukherjee led a chorus of praise for the evacuation effort and the “high level of preparedness” as well as for the accurate forecasting of the country’s weather bureaus. Relief agencies said government officials seemed to have learnt the lessons from 1999, when a cyclone tore through the same region, killing more than 8,000 people and devastating crops and livestock. “The government and the community were more aware this time and better prepared, it was a collective effort and a successful one,” Manish Choudhary, a director of the Indian Red Cross Society, said. Officials in Orissa said 873,000 people moved before the cyclone made landfall, while at least another 100,000 were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh. Residents were also evacuated from coastal regions of West Bengal. Many returned home yesterday to discover their homes, many flimsy mud and thatch dwellings, as well as their businesses damaged or destroyed. Mostly poor farmers and fishermen, they were resigned to getting on with the job of rebuilding rather than waiting for rescue workers. “I left everything (behind) and when I came back nothing was here,” said Bhagwan, 50, a coconut seller from the town of Gopalpur, as he sat on the ground in front of his destroyed shop. Kishor Nayak crammed into a boat with dozens of others to reach his village across a swollen river from Sunapur hamlet. Villagers clutched shoes, clothes, food and other basic possessions in plastic bags. “My house is flat. I have to go back and fix it now,” Nayak said. “There is no food either. My kids have been starving, crying,” he added. Hundreds of relief officers from the National Disaster Response Force have fanned out across the region, clearing away fallen trees from roads, mangled power poles, and debris, officials said. Relief workers distributed food at shelters, while authorities worked to restore power, water and other services. The army said 18 helicopters and 12 aircraft have been deployed to help with the relief operation. The top official in the hardest-hit district of Ganjam said power services have been wrecked, while 500,000 homes in his district alone have been partially or completely destroyed. “The power infrastructure has completely collapsed, it is smashed. There’s no way electricity will be back tonight. It will take us a minimum of one week, maybe even two weeks to get power back,” collector of Ganjam district Krishan Kumar said. “Nothing is left here,” he said. “About 30,000 people have lost their homes completely, they will stay in our cyclone shelters until they can rebuild,” he added. Choudhary from the Red Cross said 3,000 volunteers were distributing tents and other assistance to those left homeless, while the state government announced food assistance packages for affected families. Although the cyclone has dissipated, heavy rain was falling across the region, with reports of flooding in two districts in Odisha.