Cyclone Fani: the most violent cyclone in India in the last 20 years has already killed two people

Fani, the most powerful cyclone of the last twenty years in India, sits in the sacred city of Puri, in the east of the country, with heavy rains and winds up to 200 kilometers to the hour. The hurricane caused two deaths and was destroyed and forced to evacuate more than one million people.

Category 5 cyclone, considered "extremely severe" by the Indian Meteorological Service, made landfall in the coastal state of Odisha in Bay of Bengal in the morning and is expected to weaken to a "severe" storm. strict". It moves north-northeast to the state of West Bengal.

"I can confirm two deaths at the moment, an older man died of a heart attack, another person came out of the storm despite our warnings and died because a tree fell on him" said Bishnupada Sethi, commissioner for special aid to the state of Odisha, where 10,000 people died as a result of a cyclone, the largest in the country.

"The southerly winds are expected to blow at around 200 km / h," he added from Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha, famous for its 11th-century Hindu temple.

In Puri, the sacred city of Hinduism that attracts millions of visitors and pilgrims, steps have also been taken to protect the 850-year-old Jagannath temple.

More than one million people were evacuated and some 3,000 shelters and government buildings were built to accommodate those who had to leave their homes.

On the Indian cyclone scale, Fani is in second place, which is equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane. In 1999, a "super" cyclone killed about 10,000 people and destroyed much of Odisha with 260 winds. and 280 km / h, according to Mr. Mohapatra, scientist of the meteorological service. "It's not that bad," he said.

"They flew in the air"

"Night was falling and we could barely see five meters in front of us," said a resident of Puri about the arrival of the cyclone.

"There have been street food stalls and shop signs that have exploded," said a man from a hotel where he fled. "The wind is violent," he added.

Meteorologists cautioned against the "total destruction" of huts, ripped electrical and communication poles, "flooded evacuation routes" and crop damage in some areas.

(The nation)