Cyclone Fani: 9 killed after storm triggers heavy rain in Bengal, Odisha; flights, trains cancelled

Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms, struck West Bengal and Odisha on Friday, unleashing heavy rain and storm that gusted up to 175 kmph, leading to the death of at least 9 people. The heavy rain followed by the wind blew away the houses and uprooted the houses. The strong storm is expected to hit Kolkata by today afternoon.

Over 11 lakh people were evacuated from the Odisha "I assure the affected people that the nation and the centre are with them," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, releasing over Rs. 1,000 crores in advance for the states affected by Cyclone Fani.

"Spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Ji and discussed situation prevailing due to Cyclone Fani. Assured continuous support from Central Government in the wake of the cyclone. Entire nation stands in solidarity with all those affected by cyclone in different parts," PM Modi said.

Around 220 trains along the Howrah-Chennai route have been cancelled keeping in view passengers' safety, an East Coast Railway (ECoR) official said. Meanwhile, Ten flights were cancelled to Bhubaneswar from IGI Delhi, while 15 departures were cancelled to Kolkata.

"The severe cyclonic storm Fani entered Bengal at 12:30 am through Odisha's Balasore. It crossed Kharagpur packing wind of 70-80 kmph, gusting to 90 kmph," said Regional Meteorological Centre's Deputy Director General Sanjib Bandyopadhyay said.

Calling Cyclone ‘very severe’, IMD said, Cyclonic Storm Fani over coastal Odisha moved north-northeastwards at 20 kmph in the last 6 hours and weakened into a Severe Cyclonic Storm and lay centered at 2030 hrs over Coastal Odisha about 110 km southwest of Midnapore(West Bengal),80 km southwest of Digha and 210 km southwest of Kolkata.”

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