Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured support and financial assistance to all the Cyclone Fani-hit states and announced the release of more than Rs.1000 crores.
The Extremely Severe Cyclone (ECS) that started off near the equator has already killed two people in Puri and is expected to make a huge impact on the coastal areas of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
PM In Touch With All The Affected Areas
While addressing an election rally in Rajasthan, Prime Minister Modi said that his government is in touch with all the states that are expected to be hit by Cyclone Fani.
He said, ‘I took the latest update from officers. I held a review meeting yesterday (on Thursday). More than Rs 1,000 cr was release to concerned governments in advance. The NDRF, Indian Coast Guard, army, navy and Air Force are working with the administration. I assure the affected people that the entire nation and the Centre are with them.’
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The Orissa State Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi told the media, “I can confirm two deaths for now. One old man in one of the shelters died because of (a) heart attack. Another person went out in the storm despite our warnings and died because a tree fell on him.”
The storm created by Cyclone Fani made landfall in the Puri district of Orissa causing havoc in the process making many people homeless and uprooting thousands of electricity poles and trees.
More than a million people have been evacuated by the government of Orissa. Fani is the strongest summertime cyclone ever to hit India in the last 43 years. The government has asked people to stay indoors.
Cyclone Fani To Weaken And Move North-Northeastwards
As per the reports by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone will weaken and move towards north-northeastwards. The wind speed of the cyclonic storm was 200km/hour when it hit the land of Puri.
But as it will move further its speed will weaken to around 150-160km/hour. Slowly, it may weaken into a severe cyclonic storm from the extreme cyclonic storm and emerge into the Gangetic West Bengal by the early morning of May 4.
The storm is most likely to reach Bangladesh on May 4 evening. As the storm progressed from Puri, it lashed the capital city of Orissa- Bhubaneshwar and other cities including Bhadrak and Cuttack and also hit the power supply badly. The onset of Cyclone Fani led to the closing of all the shops in Bhubaneshwar with the streets wearing an empty look.
