Phailin gains strength, wind speed to reach 215 kmph: Met department

Bhubaneswar: The severe cyclonic storm Phailin over east central Bay of Bengal today further intensified and is all set to make a landfall close to Gopalpur in Odisha at a wind speed of at least 205 kmph tomorrow.

"The very severe cyclonic storm, Phailin over east central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph and lay centred about 520km south-southeast of Paradip, 530 from Gopalpur and 530km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam," the India Meteorological Department said in its latest bulletin.

"It would move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by the evening of October 12," the IMD said.

IMD, which till last night expected that the wind speed would remain limited within 185 kmph during landfall on Saturday, said in its latest bulletin that Phailin would hit with increased intensity with a maximum sustained speed of 205-215 kmph.

Similarly, though IMD forecast a storm surge of 1.5 meter to 2 meter in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts in the coast yesterday, today it said the storm surge height will be around 2 meter to 2.5 meter above astronomical tide.

This would inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha.

Squally winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph have already started along Odisha coast this morning under the influence of Phailin. "It would increase in intensity with gale wind speed reaching 205-215 kmph along and off coastal districts of south Odisha at the time of landfall," the IMD said.

Meanwhile, a worried state government held several meetings and took stock of the situation in the changed circumstances. The state government has already asked the district authorities to start evacuation of people living in low lying areas close to the sea.

"We have ordered that nobody should be allowed to stay in thatched and weak houses," Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra said.

The personnel of of Odisha State Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire men have already been deployed.

Cyclone Phailin the size of Katrina: foreign media

New Delhi: Cyclonic storm "Phailin", classified as "very severe" by the weather department, is expected to hit coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at around 5:30 pm on Saturday.

Here is what the foreign media has to say about the cyclone:
The Washington Post: Potentially catastrophic cyclone Phailin, size of Katrina, headed for India

Over the last day, a cyclone over the Bay of Bengal has explosively strengthened as it marches towards the east coast of India, presenting a clear and present danger to the country of over a billion people.

In the last 18 hours, Phailin's peak winds have increased an astonishing 80 mph (or 70 knots), a rare rate of intensification.

"Based on satellite estimates, maximum sustained winds are now easily around 160 mph (140 knots)," says Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBell.com, a private forecasting services company.

Those wind speeds would make Phailin the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane, capable of catastrophic damage.

Phailin is not only intense, but also large.

"It's equivalent to Katrina in size," Maue says. (Read More Here)


The Wall Street Journal: India Braces for Cyclone Phailin
India started assembling disaster-management teams and evacuating people in the low-lying areas of two states on the eastern coast where a cyclone packing winds of 175-185 kilometers an hour is expected to make landfall this weekend.

A severe cyclone in 1999 had killed more than 15,000 people in Orissa state, which along with adjoining Andhra Pradesh will likely face the brunt of Cyclone Phailin as it is set to make the landfall Saturday.

In India, cyclones usually strike between April and June before the onset of monsoon, or from October to December, just after the rainy season ends. On an average, five cyclonic storms develop over north Indian Ocean a year. Although the frequency of cyclones in the region isn't unusual considering that as many as 80 develop over the globe a year, the death toll is often high because of population density, poverty and the lack of sufficient advance weather data. (Read More Here)

BBC: India's Orissa and Andhra Pradesh prepare for storm

India is preparing for a massive cyclone, which is sweeping through the Bay of Bengal towards the country's east coast.

Cyclone Phailin, categorised as "very severe" by weather forecasters, is expected to hit Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states on Saturday.

India's eastern coast and Bangladesh are routinely hit by cyclonic storms between April and November which cause deaths and widespread damage to property. In December 2001, cyclone Thane hit the southern state of Tamil Nadu, killing dozens of people.

Cyclone Phailin intensifies into 'very severe' storm; high alert for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha

Bhubaneswar:  The cyclonic storm "Phailin" has been classified as "very severe" by the Met department and is heading towards coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh where it is expected to hit on Saturday evening.

Here are the 10 big developments in this story:

1. Experts say the wind speed will touch 175-185 km per hour when the cyclone hits the coast of Northern Andhra Pradesh and Southern Odisha.
   
   
2. Strong winds with a speed of upto 65 km per hour will hit both states tomorrow morning, the Met department has forecast.
   
   
3. Heavy rainfall is expected for Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, with lots of rain forecast for Bengal the next day.
   
4. The Andhra Pradesh government says it has informed the Navy, Army and Air Force that their assistance may be required for emergency and relief operations.
   
5. Due to the cyclone alert, thousands of power sector employees from the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh, who were on strike to protest against the Centre's decision to split the state, have decided to return to work for now.
   
   
6. Large parts of the 13 districts of Seemandhra had been without power for six days because of the strike.
   
7. Lakhs of government employees from other deparments who have been on strike have also said that they will help with any relief and rehabilitation work by temporarily returning to work if the cyclone hits.
   
8. The Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre has warned fishermen against venturing into sea.
   
9. A super-cyclone had struck 14 coastal districts of Odisha in October 1999. Nearly 10,000 people were killed as winds raging at 300 km per hour tore through the coast.
   
10. In Odisha, 14 districts are now on high alert.