Cyclone Phailin coming with deadly fury
HYDERABAD: Cyclone Phailin with a wind speed of 220km per hour is on the verge of turning into a super cyclone and is expected to make landfall between Gopalpur in Odisha and Srikakulam between 5 to 8 p.m. today.
With the cyclone thundering towards the shore, both the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh governments mounted a massive evacuation exercise on Friday.
While Odisha began to evacuate over 7 lakh people, State authorities claimed to have shifted 65,000 people from low-lying areas in the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the situation with district collectors and put the administration on high alert.
Four columns of Army, with medical and engineering staff, and boats will reach Visakhapatnam Saturday evening for rescue and relief operations. Fifteen teams from the National Disaster Response Force have also been deployed.
But the State government seems ill-prepared. Around 250 cyclone shelters are in a dilapidated condition and HAM radio sets are ineffective. Asked about it, Revenue Minister Raghuveera Reddy admitted 250 cyclone shelters were in a poor shape and clarified the government had decided against using them.
He, however, hastened to add there's a cyclone shelter for every km. On HAM radios, he said, 'The government has ensured that everyone has a mobile phone so that there is no communication problem.'
In Delhi, Defence Minister AK Antony has directed the armed forces to be in full readiness. Amidst these preparations, a controversy has broken out over whether the authorities are downplaying the threat of Phailin.
The Meteorological Department has maintained that Phailin is a very severe cyclonic storm. But abroad, it is being described as a storm as big as Hurricane Katrina that devastated the US in 2005.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre of the US Navy described the storm as much stronger with the current wind speed at about 260 km per hour.
Since the 1999 Super Cyclone clocked a maximum wind speed of 260-270 km, Phailin is being seen by some as a super cyclone. In fact, international meteorologist Eric Holthaus, in his forecast, said Phailin is worse than Hurricane Katrina basing on the current wind speed and pressure levels. 'It might be the strongest in the tropical cyclone's recorded history in Indian Ocean,' he felt.
News Posted: 12 October, 2013
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