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.

'Very severe' Cyclone Phailin heads for Odisha, Andhra Pradesh at wind speed of 200 km per hour

Bhubaneswar:  Cyclonic storm "Phailin", classified as "very severe", is heading for coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at wind speeds averaging 200 km per hour and is expected to hit the states on Saturday evening. Some weathermen are describing it as potentially India's version of 'hurricane Katrina', one of the deadliest storms in US history.

Here are the latest updates

1. Experts say the wind speed is at 200 to 210 km per hour and is expected to touch 230 km per hour when the cyclone hits the coasts of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh tomorrow.
   
2. 'It is not a super-cyclone yet but moving towards that," said the Indian Meteorological Department chief LS Rathore.
   
3. Five districts are preparing for the worst impact of the cyclone: Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and  Ganjam, Puri, Khordha and Jagatsinghapur in Odisha.
   
4. Andhra Pradesh Minister Raghuveera Reddy said 64,000 people are being evacuated from Srikakulam, Vizag and Vizianagaram and shifted to cyclone shelters.
   
   
5. Defence Minister AK Antony has asked the Army, Navy and Air Force to be ready for emergency and relief operations. Two Air Force aircraft are at Bhubaneswar, ready to airlift disaster management teams and equipment. Others aircraft are also in stand-by.
   
   
6. Odisha's Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patra told NDTV, "We are fighting against nature. We are better prepared this time, we learnt a lot from 1999." Nearly 15,000 people died in the super-cyclone that hit Odisha in 1999.
   
7. There is heavy rainfall in parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. People along the coasts in Odisha are also being moved to storm shelters. "The first priority will be to save people's lives, ensure food and electricity," said the Odisha minister.
   
8. Government holidays have been cancelled for the next month in both states.
   
9. Thousands of employees from the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh, who were on strike to protest against the Centre's decision to split the state, have returned to work for now due to the cyclone emergency.
   
10. Large parts of the 13 districts of Seemandhra had been without power for six days because of the strike.