Touted as one of the most devastating cyclones, ‘Fani’ just passed through the Indian mainland. India is garnering attention and appreciation all around the world for its rapid response and massive evacuation of more than a million people from the cyclone hit areas. This is what you need to know about the giant catastrophe-
- Cyclone Fani is strongest cyclonic storm to hit Indian coast since 1999, when a super cyclone had hit Odisha, taking over 10,000 lives. Although Fani was extremely severe cyclone at the time of landfall but it was just short of super cyclone. This can be gauged from its wind speed that had gone over 200 kmph, almost neat to that of super cyclone i.e of 220 kmph.
- Cyclone Fani had the longest sea travel during this time but was shortest in terms of travelling inland.
- Till now, the death toll stands at 38 across the three affected states of Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. More than 1 crore people living in 14,835 villages and 46 towns across the districts of Puri, Khurda, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Mayurbhanj were affected by Fani.
- At present, the power network in the most affected Puri district stands completely damaged after the storm. According to the sources, it will take days to restore power in the district.
- Railways have reintroduced 85 of the 138 cancelled trains. The main line to Bhubaneswar has commenced operations, while Puri will be ready to receive trains in about four to five days. Flight operations to Bhubaneswar resumed with 41 flights operating yesterday, even though the local airport suffered extensive damage.
- Cyclone Fani is named by Bangladesh. It is pronounced "Foni" and loosely translates to "the hood of a snake".
- In the past (1891-2017) only 14 severe tropical cyclones formed in April over the Bay of Bengal. Only one storm crossed the Indian mainland. Cyclone Fani is the second storm forming in April and crossing the mainland. Last severe cyclone Nargis in 2008 devastated Myanmar.
- Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones are just different names for the same kind of tropical storm that have a low-pressure center with high wind speeds and heads towards land. The nomenclature depends on which part of the world the storm occurs.
- Most cyclones that generate exclusively in the Bay of Bengal become relatively weaker by the time they reach the Indian landmass. However, the case with Cyclone Fani is different since it developed almost close to the Equator, whose close proximity usually does not let the system grow.
- Out of 10 cases of very heavy loss of life in the world due to tropical cyclones, nine cases were in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
- Cyclonic storms have been the main cause of deaths due to natural disasters in Asia between 1970 and 2012. Most of these cyclone-related deaths have occurred in India and Bangladesh.
Image Credits – Euronews
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