Cyclone Fani: Ferocious winds leave trail of destruction in Odisha

The extremely severe cyclone Fani battered several districts along the sea in Odisha on May 3. Odisha’s capital city Bhubaneswar suddenly lost its tag of a ‘pleasant city’ in the wake of cyclone Fani that ripped through the state’s coastal belt. Lack of adequate water supply worsened the crisis. People lined up for water in many parts of the region. Bhubaneswar was left paralysed and enveloped in darkness like a proverbial ghost town. Cyclone Fani uprooted trees and triggered rains and damaged houses in many parts of the state. Extensive damage to telecommunications and power infrastructure was reported from Puri, Bhubaneshwar and other parts of Odisha. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the death toll was only in single digit but did not give the exact figure. He said a record 1.2 million people were evacuated in 24 hours and called it one of the biggest human evacuations in history.