[darklord]

BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone Phailin will move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by Saturday evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 205-215 km per hour (kmph), the met department has said.

"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, 530km from Gopalpur and 530km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam," the met department said in its latest bulletin.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/23964875.cms

[BoneCollector]

I read about all this on net. The foreign media is terming this as bad as Hurricane Katrina. The problem is that we in India might not be that disaster ready and our preparedness for something this big might be less. The NDRF and the Armed Forces are ready and local authorities are also not leaving any stone unturned. Just hoping and praying that it doesn't do much harm.

[green_wheel]

Stay safe, Odisha/AP/WB coastal belt folks. Remain indoors and secure your doors, windows, cars and bikes. This looks like a big one.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/24494619

[ashis89]

The Govt is trying to take all precautions. Holidays of all Govt employees stand cancelled. But people have started panicking. There is panic buying of ration, petrol and other essentials. Though officials are patrolling the markets, still there is hoarding and black marketing. Also the coastal villages are going to be hit hard.

Btw, US Met Dept has given it the category 5 status, the highest and most critical one.

[SS-Traveller]

The Indian Meteorological Dept. website is taking ages to open.
http://www.imd.gov.in/section/satmet/img/sanew.htm ; http://www.imd.gov.in/section/satmet...nequad-vis.htm

But here's a link to help track the cyclone.

http://www.cyclocane.com/phailin-storm-tracker/

[darklord]

US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center is also tracking it.

http://www.usno.navy.mil/JTWC/

They are predicting gusts up to 305 kmph.

[aaggoswami]

From what I have read, foreign media is considering this as worse than Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina actually was weaker when it made landfall, but major damage was done by storm surge. This one, called Phailin, is expected to be much stronger in landfall itself.

Take care guys. Its really a massive one. We had smaller constellation of clouds which resulted into floods in my city on 24-09-2013 and this was not storm at all. The intensity is way too high in this case.

[julupani]

After the 1999 Super Cyclone, both the people of Odisha as well as Govt of Odisha have learnt their lessons well.

Preparedness of the govt as well as the people themselves is pretty good. People as well as govt is stocked up on basic rations. Large number of personnel and equipment are ready to be deployed. Special personnel from the NDRF and ODRF are standing by, as is the Navy and Air Force.

Let me give an example of govt preparedness. My father is a Professor in a university, and his office has an old Mahindra Armada which is sometimes used for a variety of duties. The district relief officer today called him up and asked him to keep the vehicle ready and fueled up, so that it may be used for relief work if needed. The electricity supply company came around and has cut branches off the trees to prevent electricity supply from being cut unnecessarily. I have received a number of SMSes from the Govt regarding steps to be taken, emergency nos etc.

I am actually damn impressed by the preparedness of the Govt.

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

From what I have read, forigen media is considering this as worse than Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina actually was weaker when it made landfall, but major damage was done by storm surge. This one, called Phailin, is expected to be much stronger in landfall itself.

Take care guys. Its really a massive one. We had smaller constellation of clouds which resulted into floods in my city on 24-09-2013 and this was not storm at all. The intensity is way too high in this case.

Katrina did not cause damage by its sheer intensity. New Orleans is actually lower than sea level and has the Mississippi river running through it. The flood water did not have any outflow which caused most of the damage. I hope this cyclone doesnt cause more damage. Atleast the level of preparedness seems better this time around.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by zoombiee

Katrina did not cause damage by its sheer intensity. New Orleans is actually lower than sea level and has the Mississippi river running through it. The flood water did not have any outflow which caused most of the damage. I hope this cyclone doesnt cause more damage. Atleast the level of preparedness seems better this time around.

That and the fact that most homes in the US are still built out of wood, compared to India where pucca houses are built from brick and mortar.

For example, I myself lived through the previous Super Cyclone. My town witnessed speeds of over 200kmph. The sum total of the damage to our house was the cracked asbestos roof thanks to a coconut falling on it.

Also compared to 1999 a lot more people have pucca houses of their own. And there are cyclone shelters all around where people have been shifted.

[darklord]

Now it is apparently the strongest storm ever measured in the Indian Ocean. Pretty scary:

http://www.seattlepi.com/technology/...ut-4889392.php

[darklord]

Initial reports suggest the storm itself caused zero casualties.

Trail of destruction but few casualties after cyclone pounds India

[Redeemer8]

Thankfully the destruction caused is substantially less in comparison to what was experienced in 1999. The collective response of all agencies involved in rescue operations & administration paid off to a great extent.

Pl do update on the road conditions in NH-5 when normalcy in restored.