Thousands of emergency workers cut through trees felled on highways, hauled debris of buildings off roads and tried to repair uprooted electricity poles and mobile towers as Odisha launched a massive relief and restoration operation on Saturday in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani’s destruction.

Personnel of the national and local disaster response teams worked round-the-clock with members of civil society organisations and ordinary people as the battered state limped back to normalcy.

The authorities were still trying to assess the extent of the damage done by Fani, the worst summer storm to hit the state in four decades, which was accompanied by winds gusting up to 205 kilometres per hour that uprooted trees, toppled power pylons, and disrupted road, rail and air traffic.

Lack of access to remote areas and disruption of telecommunications was proving to be a hindrance in the rescue and relief effort.

The state’s special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said restoring power and mobile connectivity was a huge challenge.

“By Monday, we are trying to restore BSNL connectivity in Puri and Bhubaneswar. We are trying to restore power in large parts of Bhubaneswar by Sunday. In Puri, power restoration will take at least a week,” Sethi said.

First Published: May 04, 2019 23:29 IST