Cyclone Fani: A Lesson In Disaster-Preparedness From Odisha

As super cyclone Fani ravaged Odisha on May 3, the state seems to have efficiently averted a major tragedy. The United Nations also praised India’s Met Dept for its accurate prediction of Cyclone. So far, 16 people have been reported dead with considerable structural damage to private and public properties. The state learnt its lesson from the super cyclone of 1999 that had killed around 10,000 people and inflicted massive material damage. The state along with the other agencies deployed over 43,000 volunteers to evacuate more than a million people who were accommodated in over 4,000 shelters, including 880 specially designed cyclone centres. Inflatable lights were used to ensure vulnerable areas don’t go dark at nightfall. Probable flood-prone villages were identified in advance. Apart from alerting people via public address system like TV commercials, radio and newspaper, the state government sent more than 2.6 million text messages to warn people about the impending storm. The Army and Navy were kept on standby.