Praise for India’s response to cyclone

UN and other experts yesterday praised India for its early warning systems and rapid evacuation of more than 1 million people, which they said helped minimize loss of life from a deadly cyclone that battered its eastern coast. Cyclone Fani, one of the biggest to hit India in years, tore into Odisha Friday, leaving a trail of devastation across the coastal state of 46 million people before swinging towards Bangladesh.

In 1999 the same state was hit by a devastating 30-hour super-cyclone that saw a storm surge sweep 20 kilometers inland. Unprepared for the scale of the diaster, authorities struggled to evacuate the stricken population and some 10,000 people were killed. This time, improved forecasting models, public awareness campaigns and well-drilled evacuation plans -- backed up by an army of responders and volunteers -- has seen Odisha’s inhabitants spared the worst of Fani’s fury.

Only twelve people have been killed by the cyclone in India -- which escaped being hit by a major storm surge -- and at least 160 injured, local media reported. As soon as it became clear this week that Fani was on course to hit Odisha, emergency teams began the mammoth task of evacuating those living in low-lying regions, moving 1.2 million residents away from danger areas and into temporary shelters.

Alerts asking residents to stay indoors and follow the dos and don’ts were issued repeatedly on TV and radio, and broadcast through loudspeakers in public places. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) praised the government’s “effective” evacuation, saying it had “saved many lives”.