Cyclone Phailin causes widespread devastation on Odisha, AP coasts

Srikakulam(AP)/Gopalpur(Odisha): 'The very severe' cyclone Phailin, the worst since the disastrous super-cyclone of 1999, on Saturday night slammed the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts, causing widespread devastation, uprooting thousands of trees and electric poles, blowing away thatched huts and enveloping the entire region in darkness.In Srikakulam, Viziangaram, and other coastal area of Andhra Pradesh, most of the roads were blocked by uprooted trees and electric poles, lowlying areas submerged, and power supply was down. A large number of thatched huts were blown away by the 210 kmph cyclone, that is now moving northwestward, with the India Meteorological Department expecting it could further weaken. Small rivers like Nagavalli, Champavati, Vamsidhara and Swarnamukhi rivers in coastal AP were in spate due to seatides entering the mouths of most of these rivers.The Gopalpur town in Odisha which was hit by the 'eye' of Cyclone Phailin was completely submerged in seawater, with trees uprooted and electric poles bent under the impact of strong winds. Preliminary reports are yet to come from Gopalpur and the district headquarter Berhampur, located 16 km away, as dawn broke ending a night of fear and terror. Casualty figures are yet to come in as day broke on Sunday and rescue teams, very few in number, moving out to make an assessment of the damage. Vast swathes of coastal districts of Odisha, especially Ganjam, whose Gopalpur-on-sea was the entry point for the storm, were engulfed in darkness as trees and electric poles were felled by the cyclone. Terrified people were forced to remain indoors by heavy rains and vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt. Bracing for the cyclonic storm, more than half a million people were evacuated by authorities from vulnerable areas in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in one of the biggest such exercises. The evacuated people were crammed into cyclone shelters, schools and public buildings. In some areas, the homeless people have taken shelter inside trucks parked on highways. Heavy to very heavy rainfall continued in the districts of Gajapati, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Bhadrak and Kendrapara in coastal region of Odisha besides state capital Bhubaneshwar. The cyclone made its landfall "very close to Gopalpur town" around 9 pm and has just started crossing the coast in Odisha, IMD Director General L S Rathore told reporters in New Delhi just a little later."Still there is scope the speed to go up as the cyclone will remain very severe for six hours. Post landfall, there will be no large change in the intensity," he said, adding that for another 12 to 24 hours, there will be moderate rains in large parts of east India.He denied that 'Phailin' was a super cyclone. In Andhra Pradesh, 1,29,100 people from 294 villages in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts have beenshifted to 115 relief camps.