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India Braces for Massive Cyclone
Date: 10/12/2013 7:15:01 AM Sender: VOA
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Waves crash onto the shore at a fishing harbor in Visakhapatnam district in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on October 12, 2013.

NEW DELHI — In India, about half a million people have been evacuated from the country’s eastern coast as a massive storm sweeps in from the Bay of Bengal.

Gusts of winds and rain swept the coast and officials warned of deadly waves more than three meters high as tens of thousands of people fled the coastal regions of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states. They have been moved to shelters set up in schools and other government buildings.

Reuters news agency reported two people were killed by falling trees while a third when the walls of her mud house collapsed on Saturday.

The evacuations to save people from the fury of Cyclone Phailin began Friday with authorities sounding warnings on radio, television and through loudspeakers. By noon on Saturday the government said that most residents had left.

The chief of India’s Metrological Department, L.S. Rathore said the storm＇s high winds - of up to 240 kilometers per hour - have the potential for major damage. He said its fury could be felt through the night.

“It is likely to maintain its intensity as very severe cyclonic storm for six hours after it crosses the coast," he said. "Another six hours as cyclonic storm and thereafter it will become depression and move northwestwards.”

The cyclone brought back memories of a deadly storm that brought massive devastation to the same area in 1999 and killed 10,000 people.  But Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik said they are much better prepared to cope with the cyclone this time.

Operations have been halted at a major port in the region. Army troops have been put on standby to assist with the evacuations and the aftermath of the storm.  Naval ships are geared for rescue work. Emergency equipment and food rations have been assembled as officials brace for widespread power failures, flooding of communication links and rail lines.

Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority Marri Shashidhar Reddy said they had deployed about 50 rescue teams.

“The state government they will be there with their resources, the army they will be there with their resources, it will be on a war footing as and when things require clearing and other things," said Reddy.

Still, there are worries that not all may have been able to flee in an impoverished region of the country where many people live in mud houses and are often loath to leave behind their meager belongings.

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