Cyclone Fani claims four more lives in Odisha's Jajpur, death toll reaches 15

The total death toll due to Cyclone Fani has reached 15.

PURI: Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, claimed four more lives in Odisha's Jajpur on Saturday taking the death toll to 15.

Earlier this morning, one more death was reported in Odisha's Bhadrak.

Cyclone Fani reached Bangladesh on Saturday several hours after it unleashed a trail of massive destruction claiming several lives in Odisha from where it entered West Bengal late on Friday.

After entering West Bengal, Cyclone Fani lashed towns and cities including Digha, Haldia, Tajpur, Mandarmani, Sandehskhali, Contai, Diamond Harbour, Bankura, Sriniketan, Asansol, Dumdum and Alipore. 

Apart from Kharagpur and Kolkata, effects of the storm were also felt in Burdwan district. Trees were uprooted, power and telecom lines snapped, metal hoardings gave away as the storm swept through Bengal. However, no loss of life or any injury was reported from West Bengal so far.

Parts of Kolkata and the suburbs also received moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday afternoon.

In the sea resort of Digha, the wind speed reached 70 kmph in some areas, in Frazerganj, the wind velocity was between 60 and 70 kmph. Kharagpur recorded 95 mm rainfall, which will continue for the next two to three hours.

The West Bengal administration switched off electricity to prevent any untoward incident as the storm passed through a particular point in the state. 

The cyclone, which crossed Odisha coast close to Puri coast between 8 AM and 10 AM on Friday with a maximum wind speed of around 175 Kmph, caused "huge damage" in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, and Khordha districts in the state.

Late on Friday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik chaired a review meeting with the chief secretary as well as senior officers of the state.

Patnaik, while briefing media after the meeting, said over 12 lakh people had been evacuated in 24 hours to safer locations in the state. He also mentioned that officials would take stock of the situation at length once the cyclonic storm crosses Odisha.

PM Narendra Modi too spoke to the Odisha Chief Minister and assured full assistance from the Centre in restoring normalcy in the cyclone-hit state.  

Special Train From Bhubaneswar To Bangalore

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has decided to run a special train for the convenience of passengers from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore this evening.

This special train with number 08463 will leave Bhubaneswar at 1900 hrs (07.00 PM) today and will reach Bangalore at 0135 hrs on May 6, 2019 (just after midnight of 5th May, 2019).

This train has one AC-2 Tier, four AC-3 Tier, 11 Sleeper Class, four Second Class Seating and two Guard/Disabled & Luggage Van Coaches in its composition.

It will have stoppages at Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Palasa, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Duvvada, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Guntur, Nandayal, Guntakal and Dharmavaram between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore.

(With Agency inputs)