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Cyclone Phailin leaves a path of destruction, but officials say evacuation efforts spared widespread loss of life

Monday, October 14, 2013, 8:02 PM - India began sorting through miles of wreckage Sunday after powerful Cyclone Phailin roared ashore, flooding towns and villages and destroying tens of thousands of thatch homes, but officials said massive evacuation efforts had spared the east coast from widespread loss of life.

Lives saved but economic losses enormous. Exposure means 100s of 1000s homes destroyed like this #Phailin wasteland pic.twitter.com/xlNVwIrwGZ

— UNISDR (@unisdr) October 14, 2013

The storm, the strongest to hit India in 14 years, destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of crops, but more than 20 hours after it made landfall in Orissa state, authorities said they knew of only 17 fatalities. 

The centre of the storm crossed the coast around 9 p.m. (11:30 a.m. ET) in eastern Odisha state, along the Bay of Bengal, based on images from satellite and radar. 

Hurricanes are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean, and the wind speed made it equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. India evacuated more than a half-million people in advance of the storm, in the hopes of avoiding a repetition of what happened 1999, when a cyclone claimed 10,000 lives. 

"We have taken a zero-casualty approach," said Odisha state disaster manager Kamal Lochan Mishra, to CNN. "If people do not move, force will be used to evacuate them." 

However, official's say they are expecting the death toll to rise as they reach areas of the cyclone-battered coast that remain isolated by downed communication links and blocked roads. 

Phailin brought more than 50 mm of rain Saturday to parts of the coast, according to the India Meteorological Department. Some of the heaviest rain was falling Saturday night in Bhubaneswar, about 50 km from the coast.

Evacuations like these saved countless lives. Great community response to the warnings. Well done India. #Phailin pic.twitter.com/tZ2mSz8JU1

— UNISDR (@unisdr) October 13, 2013

Several hours after the storm made landfall, there were heavy rains and winds in Odisha's capital of Bhubaneswar.

Forecasters expected a storm surge of as much as 6-7 meters in some places, threatening densely populated areas that are vulnerable to flooding. 

Residents were evacuated to safer places in Odisha and the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh states, national disaster-management authority chief Marri Shashidhar Reddy said. Of them, more than 400,000 were moved to safety in Odisha alone, he told CNN. 

There are conflicting reports about the death toll so far. Odisha's director-general of police, Prakash Mishra, told CNN that two men and a woman were killed by trees brought down by heavy winds in the state. Local police in Odisha told CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN, that seven people had been killed by falling trees. 

Many of those evacuated from low-lying coastal areas of Odisha left on foot or by bicycle, Kamal Lochan Mishra said. They are being housed in nearly 250 emergency shelters set up in sturdy buildings like schools and government offices. 

The Ganjam district of Odisha is expected to be the worst hit, with disaster preparedness efforts concentrated there, CNN-IBN reported.

724,000 evacuated ahead of #Phailin. Report of buildings damaged in Ganjam district of Odisha. HT @ndtv, @ZeeNews

— Hurricane Central (@twc_hurricane) October 12, 2013

In Gopalpur, a coastal resort town in Ganjam, restaurants were shuttered and streets deserted Saturday afternoon, as rain lashed down. Tourists as well as local resident have been asked to leave the town. 

A mermaid statue remained standing on Gopalpur's boardwalk, where most decorative street lamps still stood along with most of the city's buildings. 

"Everyone feels very lucky,'' said Prabhati Das, a 40-year-old woman who came from the town of Behrampur to see the aftermath at the coast, to The Associated Press. 

Power was out in coastal areas including Kalingapatnam, from where about 80,000 people have been evacuated to relief camps, CNN-IBN reported. Some fishermen earlier told the broadcaster they had defied the order to leave, anxious to see what happened on the shore.

Military deployed 

Some fear a repeat of what happened on October 29, 1999, when Cyclone 05B, also known as the Odisha Cyclone, made landfall in the same area, killing 10,000 people. 

It was the strongest tropical cyclone recorded in the Bay of Bengal, with winds of 250 kph at landfall, and it caused more than $2 billion in damage. 

Phailin's hurricane-force winds were expected to last until noon Sunday, and could extend several hundred kilometers inland as the storm moves into India. 

In advance of the storm, military units and National Disaster Response Force personnel were deployed to coastal areas with relief supplies and medical aid, CNN-IBN said. More than 20 medical teams flew to the region. 

Federal and state government ministers are being briefed on the situation, the cabinet secretary said. 

All flights to Odisha have been canceled and train services in the state are also disrupted, CNN's sister network reported. 

Disaster preparedness 

International humanitarian organization World Vision said it was helping local community groups prepare for the cyclone's arrival. 

"In a storm of this magnitude there is the potential for widespread damage to crops and livestock in the low-lying coastal areas and houses completely wiped away," said Kunal Shah, the head of World Vision's emergency response in India. "So while we are praying this storm loses intensity, we're also preparing." 

The organization has worked for the past several years to train local people in disaster preparedness, including search and rescue, basic first aid and how to protect livestock, and has thousands of emergency response kits ready to hand out where needed. 

For the people living along the coast, many of whom live as subsistence farmers in mud-and-thatch huts, the economic toll will be immense. 

Heavy rains and surging seawater destroyed more than 500,000 hectares of crops worth an estimated 24 billion rupees ($395 million), according to Orissa's disaster minister, S.N. Patro. 

Rough seas, gales 

Gale-force winds could whip coastal areas of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh for hours after landfall, the India Meteorological Department said. 

The storm surge could inundate low-lying areas of both states, it said. The department warned of extensive damage to kutcha houses, those made of flimsy materials such as mud and bamboo, as well as some damage to old buildings. 

Power and communication lines are likely to suffer large-scale disruption. 

Extensive flooding will also disrupt rail and road traffic, and crops are likely to suffer major damage, it said. 

People in affected areas may be at risk from flying debris, as well as the flooding of escape routes. 

With some of the world's warmest waters, the Indian Ocean is a cyclone hot spot, and 27 of the 35 deadliest known storms in history -- including the 1999 cyclone -- have come through the Bay of Bengal and landed in either India or Bangladesh. 

With files from CNN and The Associated Press

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