The last time such a powerful cyclonic storm had emerged in the Bay of Bengal at this time of the year, in 2008, killed more than 1.25 lakh people in Myanmar
Bhubaneswar: As Fani marches towards the country with its mammoth intensity, not only the state and Centre have ramped up preventive measures but also the common citizens and several city-based foundations are playing their part in addressing several issues.
The meteorogical department has said that Fani is heading towards the state coast, with its landfall forecast near Puri Friday.
City based Humara Bachpan Trust (HBT) has involved around 60 to 65 of its staff who are attending cyclone preparedness meetings at block, district and municipal corporation levels in Bhubaneswar and, Kakatpur and Astaranga block of Puri district which are being organised by the administration.
In the urban areas, HBT staff are visiting the slums of the Capital city and organising cyclone preparedness meetings with the community people especially with the youths, women groups and with the community leaders.
The trust said that their staffs are providing psychosocial support to women, especially pregnant women, children, elderly people and people with special needs. Speaking to Orissa POST, one of the volunteer said, “People should not panic because then it would be a total chaos. We are helping them to address anxiety issues.”
Another staff said that whatever they are instructing the residents of the areas-likely-to-be-affected are the exact instructions given by the state government.
“If the house is unsafe, then leave the house before the onset of the cyclone to any nearby safe buildings like community hall, club house or government recreational shelters,” added the staff.
The staff urged the residents to rely only on the official warnings and not pass on chain messages. They visited every possible household they could and advised them to be ready with a first aid kit. The residents were told to keep important documents in waterproof containers and keep in touch with the updated news about the cyclone.
To avoid any electrical damages, the residents were instructed to switch off all electrical appliances.
In the rural area, the HBT staff is visiting different villages of Kakatpur and Astaranga block of Puri district and organising cyclone preparedness meetings with the community people especially with the youths, women groups and Apad Mitra committee which is formed by Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA).
The staff gave special attention to the residents of Puri district as Fani is expected to generate storms with wind speeds as high as 200 km per hour.
The farmers were informed to untie the bovines for their own safety.
The staff visited several cyclone shelters and alerted the block head office control room about the present situation of the cyclone shelters as well as the status of available equipment in the shelters. It may be mentioned here that evacuation process has already started in Astaranga and Kakatpur blocks and HBT staff has also lend a helping hand in that.
The Kakatpur block administration has planned to evacuate 16,000 people while the Astaranga block has planned to evacuate 12,000 people from different villages and keep them at cyclone shelters in the area.
Why FANI is not a run-of-the-mill cyclone?
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The months of April and May just before the start of the monsoon, and then October to December immediately after the end of the monsoon, are the prime seasons for tropical cyclones
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Cyclones emerging over Bay of Bengal in April-May are usually weaker, and often swerve away from India’s east coast
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Yet, Fani is a little outlier, mainly on account of its strength, and the route it has taken
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Fani is not just a severe cyclone but an ‘extremely severe cyclone’ as graded according to its maximum wind speeds at its centre
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Fani is, thus, unusual, and that is mainly because of the place it originated, very close to the Equator, and the long route it has taken to reach the landmass