[boniver]

Quoting a post from NDTV:

The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani will make landfall today morning around 9.30 am in Odisha's Puri, much before the earlier forecast of 3 pm. With a few hours left for cyclone Fani to hit the coast, a massive exodus got under way in coastal Odisha as hundreds of thousands of people left their home, on foot and by vehicles, in probably the largest evacuation ahead of a natural disaster in the country. The Odisha government has moved 11 lakh people to safety and advised the public to remain indoor on Friday. Fani is being regarded as the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone of 1999 that claimed close to 10,000 lives and left a trail of destruction in vast swathes of the state, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre. Fani, according to sources, has gathered speed and is rolling dangerously towards the coast clocking 17 km per hour. After crossing Odisha, cyclone Fani is likely to move towards West Bengal before tapering off. It is, however, still likely to impact parts of the northeast, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. There is forecast of massive tides that could surge up to 1.5 metres during the landfall, officials said. Fishermen have been advised against venturing into the sea.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/cycl...-alert-2031634

Cyclone Fani is touted as the worst cylone to hit India in 20 years. The Bhubaneswar airport has been shut down for 24 hours, and the Kolkata airport will suspend operations tonight. Countless trains along the eastern coast of the country have also been cancelled. BHPians on this side of the country, brace yourselves. Please stay safe, and contact the emergency numbers provided if any need arises.

I've been following Cyclone Fani's tracks on https://earth.nullschool.net/ and I'm attaching a screenshot that shows the severity of the calamity that's just about to hit us.



Also attaching a list of helpline numbers for Odisha:



Members, please post below with details of rescue operations, SOS alerts as and when you get to know about them.

[boniver]

UPDATE:

Fani has hit Odisha's coast according to this news report shared 30 mins ago:



Also, here's a list of Dos and Don'ts shared by the National Disaster Management Authority:



Stay safe, people!

[revvenant]

I had seen the impact of the '99 cyclone first hand. My heart goes out to all those impacted.

Desperately trying to reach my family in Balugaon. JIO network seems to be down.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by revvenant

I had seen the impact of the '99 cyclone first hand. My heart goes out to all those impacted.

Desperately trying to reach my family in Balugaon. JIO network seems to be down.

I hope you get through to them.

My dad lived in BBSR for more than a decade and he's been in touch with his friends there since morning. There are cellular and television network outages, and since last night there have been long queues at most petrol pumps.

Guys, please charge your cellphones, laptops, power banks and emergency lights. I was in class 5 when Cyclone Aila paid us a visit, and I remember there being a 24-hour power cut. Can't rule out the same this time, so keeping ourselves prepared:



Meanwhile, it's been raining here in Kolkata for close to 4 hours now.

[Sudeep_Kimster]

Puri is worst affected as of now.

In-Laws place, tremendous wind speed, knee level water, rise in sea level reported.

Wind speed above 180 kmph when landfall occurred, Power Outage everywhere, phone services down.

Originally Posted by revvenant

I had seen the impact of the '99 cyclone first hand. My heart goes out to all those impacted.

Desperately trying to reach my family in Balugaon. JIO network seems to be down.

Me too. Hope extremely low casualties owing to timely evacuation.

Wind speed way too high than predicted for Bhubaneswar.

[saket77]

This could have been easily one of the worst disasters if steps were not taken in time. Glad that the authorities evacuated people on such a massive scale. I, for one, like the preparedness of the Govt, authorities, relief teams, Navy and all those involved in relief work this time. Last night on news, I saw huge piles of packaged food being readied for distribution among people. Still in current news, saw at least 2 are dead. RIP.

[revvenant]

Originally Posted by boniver

I hope you get through to them.

Thanks, finally I was able to talk to him.He had an old BSNL sim that he had recharged yesterday. BSNL network is not down. No extensive damage in Balugaon and Chilka area, it seems.

Puri and Bhubaneswar look like they are the worst affected among the major cities. 2 casualties confirmed.

Stay safe brother and God bless you.

[PetrolRider]

Brought back 99 super cyclone memories, I used to be in college at that time.

In Bhubaneswar, at my parent' place, A/C outer unit got dislodge and hit the overhead water tank causing flooding in the roof. This caused a temporary waterfall in the staircase and blew the inverter and much of internal circuit .

Currently in Bhubaneswar, only BSNL network is working in 2G mode, Airtel and Jio are not in service.


Edit: Last news received, storm and rain has reduced significantly.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by Sudeep_Kimster

Puri is worst affected as of now.

In-Laws place, tremendous wind speed, knee level water, rise in sea level reported.

Wind speed above 180 kmph when landfall occurred, Power Outage everywhere, phone services down.



Me too. Hope extremely low casualties owing to timely evacuation.

Wind speed way too high than predicted for Bhubaneswar.

Hope your in-laws are safe, Sudeep_Kimster.

I agree, Bhubaneswar seems to be quite badly affected by the cyclone. Such a bad impact wasn't expected.

Originally Posted by saket77

This could have been easily one of the worst disasters if steps were not taken in time. Glad that the authorities evacuated people on such a massive scale. I, for one, like the preparedness of the Govt, authorities, relief teams, Navy and all those involved in relief work this time. Last night on news, I saw huge piles of packaged food being readied for distribution among people. Still in current news, saw at least 2 are dead. RIP.

As of now, the death toll is standing at 8, but for a country that's used to losing a lot of people whenever a natural calamity strikes, that number is significantly low. Kudos to the authorities/agencies who made this possible.

Originally Posted by revvenant

Thanks, finally I was able to talk to him.He had an old BSNL sim that he had recharged yesterday. BSNL network is not down. No extensive damage in Balugaon and Chilka area, it seems.

Puri and Bhubaneswar look like they are the worst affected among the major cities. 2 casualties confirmed.

Stay safe brother and God bless you.

I'm glad you could get through to your family. Thank God they're safe.

I saw some horrendous videos of the cyclone on the internet, and I'm glad that it has now moved out of Odisha. According to reports, it is currently 40 kilometres away from Kolkata, let's see.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Brought back 99 super cyclone memories, I used to be in college at that time.

In Bhubaneswar, at my parent' place, A/C outer unit got dislodge and hit the overhead water tank causing flooding in the roof. This caused a temporary waterfall in the staircase and blew the inverter and much of internal circuit .

Currently in Bhubaneswar, only BSNL network is working in 2G mode, Airtel and Jio are not in service.


Edit: Last news received, storm and rain has reduced significantly.

Everyone here is posting about their parents or in-laws who have been affected by the storm. I'm only worried about how they will deal with it now. Your parents will probably now have to stay without electricity for a couple of days atleast, and also probably without a lot of water, since the water level in the water tank has gone down, and to draw more water you need to operate the electric water pump. Add to that, the immense demand for electricians, plumbers etc. that will go on for quite some time now.

Let's hope this ordeal gets over soon. Good luck to your parents. Keep us updated.


UPDATE:

It's been raining here constantly since last evening. Nothing significant enough to affect normal life, though. There are two under-construction buildings just beside mine, and the work hasn't stopped yet. I live just beside Barrackpore railway station (close enough to hear announcements and trains' horns), and I can confirm that local trains on the main line are running. Even my maid, who lives ~75kms away and skips duty at the slightest hint of an inconvenience, has reported for work. So as of now, the effect of the cyclone hasn't been felt here. Hope it stays this way and that I'm not speaking too soon. Will continue to update as the day progresses further.

[Nostalgic3r]

How’s Kolkata like? Traveling there in a couple of days.

[Samurai]

NYTimes has an article on how Odisha dealt with the cyclone.

[sharktale]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic3r

How’s Kolkata like? Traveling there in a couple of days.

Perfectly fine. It'll be scorching again if the weather reports are to be believed.

Originally Posted by Samurai

NYTimes has an article on how Odisha dealt with the cyclone.

It was the preparedness by OD and WB which minimised casualty and damage. Every proactive measure was taken. Really appreciate the efforts of the local/state/national administration.

[ToothyPetrohead]

Hey fellow members in the cyclone hit areas I hope and pray all is well and getting back to normal.Take care.

[Nostalgic3r]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Perfectly fine. It'll be scorching again if the weather reports are to be believed.

Thanks! Hope everyone in Odisha is safe as well.

[SamitMukherjee]

Now Fani has attacked Bangladesh. Already 14 dead and over 60 injured. The cyclone is consistently moving towards North East. Almost all flights in Kolkata-Guwahati sector is cancelled from yesterday.
Guwahati is experiencing continuous rainfall from last night.

UPDATE- Earthquake of 5.1 Richter scale happened around 4:30 in the evening.

Feeling really concerned for my family and friends now.