Cyclone Fani packed winds of 155 miles per hour when it made landfall in eastern Odisha state
Dhaka, Bangladesh — A mammoth preparation exercise that included the evacuation of more than 1 million people appears to have spared India a devastating death toll from Cyclone Fani, one of the biggest storms in decades. However, the full extent of the damage was yet to be known, officials said Saturday.
The cyclone packed winds of 155 miles per hour when it made landfall in eastern Odisha state on Friday, equivalent in strength to a Category 4 hurricane, said Mohammad Heidarzadei, an expert on cyclones at Brunel University of London.
As of late Saturday, India’s National Disaster Response Force director S. N. Pradhan said three people had been killed, though the storm smashed thatched-roof huts, uprooted trees and power lines, ripped the roof off a medical college and sprayed the emptied coastline with debris. « The precautions that have been taken should be continued, » Pradhan said.
Officials cautioned that the death toll could rise as communications were restored.
Fani crossed over India’s West Bengal state and moved northeast toward Bangladesh on Saturday, weakening from a severe cyclonic storm to a cyclonic storm.
