Kendrapara: The extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan Wednesday brought heavy rains and high-velocity winds to Kendrapara district disrupting life that had barely recovered from COVID-19 induced lockdown.
Incessant rain that started Tuesday evening took serious proportions Wednesday as the day proceeded. By afternoon, windspeed had exceeded 100 to 120 kilometre per hour, IMD said.
According to preliminary estimates, numbers of kutcha houses in the district were severely damaged. Besides, electric poles and trees were also uprooted in some of the blocks on high alert such as Rajanagar and Mahakalapada.
The district had recorded 178 millimetres of rains as of Wednesday afternoon. Amphan-induced rain will continue to batter the district till mid-night, Kendrapara collector Samarth Verma informed.
Verma further informed that as many as 32,060 residents belonging to coastline areas in the district had been evacuated by Tuesday midnight and another 8,000 residents were evacuated by Wednesday mid-day. They all have been accommodated at 82 cyclone shelters across Kendrapara district, he added.
Dry food, drinking water and emergency medicines have been kept in reserve at cyclone shelters. Restoration operations will start as soon as the conditions allow, the collector said.