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India braces for super cyclone

Half a million evacuated as major damages feared

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
Around half a million people living in coastal villages fled to safer areas as a deadly cyclone bore down on India's east coast yesterday, packing winds of up 220 kilo-metres an hour threatening to cut a swathe of devastation through farmland and fishing hamlets.
In the first reported deaths, six people were killed by falling trees even before the Cyclone Phailin could slam the east coast.
High tidal waves pounded rain-battered beaches and trees were bent and felled by gusty winds ahead of the arrival of the cyclone. Accompanied by a storm surge of up to three metres (10 feet), it was expected to make landfall anytime last night in the eastern state of Odisha.
Around 8:30pm (1ST), Cyclone Phailin was about 30 km off Gopalpur in Odisha with winds of between 210 kphand220 kph.
Even before the landfall, coconut trees in coastal villages were bent and broken in gusty wind. Electrical poles were brought down and roads were littered with debris.
A report from Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad said more than one lakh people in low-lying coastal areas of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnams districts have been shifted to safer places.
Talking to reporters after a high-level review meeting in the afternoon, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said all possible precautions have been taken to ensure that there was no loss of life due to the super cyclone.
"Our preparedness is good. We have taken all precautions required. Beyond that, there is nothing we could do," he mentioned.
The storm was set to hit the same coastal area which was devastated by a cyclone in 1999, killing about 9,000 people.
Authorities evacuated thousands of people from thatched shacks along the coasts of Odisha and its neighbouring state Andhra Pradesh to relief camps and cyclone shelters.
The Odisha government said it was setting a "zero casualty target" in the densely populated state of close to 40 million people and was seeking "100 percent" evacuation of people in areas likely to be hit by the storm.
Satellite photos showed an intimidating cloud mass barrelling across the Bay of Bengal as forecasters said the danger zone was about 150 kilometres (90 miles) wide and would hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
In Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar, where trees swayed in strong winds, panic buying saw many shops run low on food with memories still strong of the deadly cyclone which had hit the same region 14 years ago.
The army has been called out to help relief efforts. India's air force said two emergency teams had been dispatched to Bhubaneswar while transport planes and helicopters were on standby.
The weather department warned of extensive damage to mud houses, major disruption of power and communication lines, and the flooding of rail tracks and roads.