India braces for its worst storm this century as 125mph cyclone barrels towards the country

More than 800,000 people have been evacuated along India’s eastern coast as authorities brace for a cyclone moving through the Bay of Bengal that is expected to bring havoc to the region.

Cyclone Fani is forecast to make landfall on Friday with gale-force winds of up to 124 miles per hour likely starting Thursday night. 

India’s National Disaster Management Authority has forecast ‘high to phenomenal’ sea conditions for most of the Indian states along the Bay of Bengal. 

Fani is the fourth major storm to slam into India’s east coast in three decades. The last one, in 2017, cyclone Ockhi left nearly 250 people dead and more than 600 missing in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into deep waters. A 5-foot storm surge is expected to inundate low-lying areas. 

Fearing that Fani could be the worst storm since 1999, when a cyclone killed around 10,000 people and caused an estimated $4.5 billion worth of devastation in large parts of Odisha, Indian officials have put the navy, air force, army and coast guard on high alert, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The Meteorological Department has projected the ‘total destruction’ of thatched-roof huts, flooding of farmland and orchards, the bending and uprooting of telephone poles, the ‘flooding of escape routes’ and important damage to crops in some areas. 

India’s special relief commissioner told PTI that preparations for Fani have included the country’s largest evacuation operation. Tourists were asked to leave the popular beach town of Puri in Odisha by Thursday night.

Authorities have asked tourists to avoid unnecessary travel. Special buses have been deployed in Puri and other towns. 

The looming storm: Clouds over Visakhapatnam in India warn of the upcoming extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani

 ‘We are expecting more than a million people to move out of the danger zone in next 12 hours,’ Bishnupada Sethi, Odisha Special Relief Commissioner, told AFP.

Bangladesh disaster management chief Mohammad Hashim said that 3,600 cyclone shelters in schools and government buildings have been set up to accommodate more than a million people in 13 coastal districts.

In addition to the shelters, around 100,000 dry food packets are ready to be airdropped, if needed reports said.

Dozens of officials were making announcements on hand-held megaphones across the coastal belt asking residents to leave their homes.

After Odisha, Fani was predicted to head north towards the state of West Bengal and then towards Bangladesh, where authorities were already preparing on Thursday.

The National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert as cyclone Fani, termed as ‘very severe’ is expected to hit the southern Puri on Friday. Fishermen have also be warned to come to safety as a 1.5-meter (4.9-foot) storm surge is expected to inundate low-lying areas

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into deep waters: Some men return to safety on the Bay of Bengal sea’s eastern coast beach at Konark after the cyclone Fani alert in Puri district of Orissa has been issued

Other coastal states south of Odisha like Andhra Pradesh, home to 50 million people, and Tamil Nadu, population some 70 million, were also on standby.

India’s biggest oil and gas producer ONGC has evacuated close to 500 employees from offshore installations and moved drilling rigs to safer locations, the Press Trust of India reported.

The Airports Authority of India also issued an advisory to all the coastal airports to take adequate precautions.

‘Heavy rains are expected in all the coastal districts amid fears of flash floods. We are all geared up for the challenge,’ said Sethi.