The sound and the fury : here's what the landfall at Puri by #CycloneFani actually looked like..
Video by @PIBBhubaneswar pic.twitter.com/4GpvKFkRQ3
— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 3, 2019
The fiery #CycloneFani blows through Puripic.twitter.com/tf5VlwHoCu
— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 3, 2019
Video clip of a roof being blown off at the undergraduate hostel in AIIMS Bhubaneshwar due to #CycloneFani #Fani #FaniCyclone #FaniUpdates pic.twitter.com/97c5ELQJ46
— Sitanshu Kar (@DG_PIB) May 3, 2019
Officials in India mobilized a massive evacuation effort on Thursday as the country braced for landfall from a potentially devastating Cyclone Fani.
Nearly one million people are being evacuated ahead of the cyclone’s looming strike on the eastern India coastline as the week ends. One government official said the evacuation effort is the largest in the nation’s history, according to The Associated Press. Nearly 100,000 of those evacuated are from the city of Puri alone, BBC News reported.
The city of Puri could be dealt a catastrophic blow from Fani. Officials are concerned about the welfare of the city’s 858-year-old Jagannath temple during the Fani’s onslaught, according to BBC News.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with cabinet officials Thursday as the powerful cyclone loomed off the country’s east coast. (Twitter/Narendra Modi)
More than 100 million people are in the path of this life-threatening tropical cyclone.
Fani is currently an extremely severe cyclonic storm with winds of 185-195 km/h (115-121 mph) with gusts up to 205 km/h (127 mph), which is equal to a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic or East Pacific oceans.
Fani is the strongest cyclone this early in the year in the North Indian Ocean since Cyclone Nargis in 2008, according to Philip Klotzbach from Colorado State University.
Officials have opened more than 850 shelters which are believed to hold around one million people. Schools and universities have been closed in advance of the approaching storm. Prime Minister Narendra met with officials from his administration on Thursday
to discuss storm preparations and, in a message posted on Twitter, offered “prayers for the safety and well-being of our citizens.”
In anticipation of Fani’s arrival, operations at Paradip Port in Odisha were suspended beginning on Wednesday night, in a cascade of extraordinary safety measures. Kolkata airport will be closed from 9:30 p.m., local time, on Friday night to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, NDTV reported, and more than 100 trains have been canceled and two more diverted due to Fani, according to India Today.
The NOAA 20 satellite captured this image of an enormous and powerful Cyclone Fani churning over the Bay of Bengal on April 30, 2019, as it barreled toward India’s east coast. (NOAA)
Fani has lost some wind intensity prior to landfall but is expected to remain a dangerous cyclone as it makes landfall along the coast of eastern India during the morning to midday hours of Friday.
Residents from northern Andhra Pradesh to Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar are at risk for significant impacts from Fani.
Areas along the coast, such as Kakinda and Visakhapatnam, to the border with Bangladesh will have to deal with dangerous seas and varying levels of coastal flooding.
Cities from Brahmapur to Puri could be dealt a direct hit with impacts ranging from destructive winds to flooding downpours and an inundating coastal storm surge.
Fani bearing down on eastern India early Friday, May 3, 2019. (Image/NOAA/RAMMB)
Locations near and just east of where landfall occurs can experience wind gusts in excess of 210 km/h (130 mph) that can result in widespread damage to all structures. These areas will also be at risk for isolated tornadoes.
Flying debris can inflict further damage and potentially harm anyone caught outdoors.
As Fani tracks farther inland Friday night into Saturday it will weaken, lowering the risk for damaging winds across Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal; however, locally damaging winds and flooding rainfall will still be possible.
While Fani will begin weakening prior to reaching Kolkata, downpours and damaging winds will be possible from Friday afternoon into Saturday.
From Saturday night into Sunday, Fani will weaken into a tropical rainstorm as it tracks over Bangladesh and northeast India.
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Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone Center
During this time, life-threatening flooding is still possible along with an elevated risk for mudslides across the rugged terrain of the region.
Rainfall amounts of 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) will be possible from far northeast Andhra Pradesh and Odisha into parts of West Bengal, northern Bangladesh and northeast India through Sunday.
The hardest-hit locations could have an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 500 mm (20 inches).