On October 29, 1999, a ‘super cyclone’ slammed into Odisha. Everyone knew the cyclone was coming. But, nobody knew how bad it was going to be.State government officials had underestimated the super cyclone’s intensity and had miscalculated its path. There were not enough cyclone shelters to protect Orissa’s tens of thousands of people. And, the government machinery was mired in chaos and confusion.
The result? A death toll so high that thousands of bodies had to be “bulldozed into vast, faceless graves”, according to an India Today report from 1999.The 1999 Super Cyclone ranks among the worst natural disasters in India. Nearly 10,000 people died, according to official estimates. More than 3.5 lakh houses were destroyed, several villages were completely washed away, more than two lakh animals were killed and 25 lakh people were marooned.
In 1999, before the Super Cyclone struck, the Orissa had 21 shelters. Today, before Cyclone Fani struck, the state had readied nearly 900 cyclone shelters. Odisha also set up the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, which was the first such disaster management to bet set up in India.
At least 72 people have been killed by Fani in India; 64 in Odisha, and 8 in two districts of Uttar Pradesh. In Odisha, a teenager was killed after being hit by a falling tree. One woman died when she was hit by flying debris, and another died of a heart attack while in a cyclone shelter. The cyclone adversely affected electricity supply and telecommunication in several coastal areas of Odisha, and to a lesser extent, of West Bengal. Puri and Khordha district in Odisha were the worst hit. The Jagannath Temple in Puri suffered minor damage, the repairing cost were estimated to be ₹5.1 crore (US$738,000).Total damage in Odisha were estimated at ₹12,000 crore (US$1.74 billion), mostly in property damage and the relief.
Although no fatalities occurred in AndhraPradesh, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, these districts reported an economic loss of ₹58.62 crore (US$8.5 million).The South Central Railway also suffered a damage of about ₹2.98 crore (US$432,000).
After the cyclone, Odisha required ₹17,000 crore (US$2.46 billion) for rebuilding the infrastructure.Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced that the government had released over ₹1000 crore (US$145 million) for the states affected by Fani.
Team Fandoro worked hard and raised funds through its star donors. We sent quite a few of our donation through partner teams who were already headed that way. The final set of donation was actually taken by our team – the idea was to also understand how Odisha is doing after 2 months of Fani.
The items which we took there were :
- Rice
- Pulses
- Biscuits
- Mosquito Nets
- First aid box (Dettol+band-aid + basic OTC medicines)
- Buckets and Mugs
- Mustard Oil
- Sugar
- Tea
- Spices
- ToothBrush and ToothPaste
- Soap
- Washing Power
- Blankets / Towels
- Shoes /Slippers
- Torches/ Candles
We visited the Villages – 1, 2 , 3 and 4. Once we were done with the villages and all our goodies except clothes for children were over, our team went through various villages on their way back to Bhubaneswar – And, all through the way, wherever Suman and Abhishek came across young kids who looked needy(not covered properly), team stopped by and almost played Santa. We would have supported roughly over 200 families directly, across 5 villages. This was very fulfilling.
However, when I asked Suman – “So, how is Odisha dealing with Fani now? recovered? “
Suman said – “What we saw was – Odisha is not even back to 50% of what it was. People still don’t know what the future will be like.”
Me – “Tell me they have some thing to eat atleast.”
Suman – “Government gives 50 KGs Rice and Pulses – to each family. Atleast that is what a few told us”
We sure are grateful they get some food.
One person who deserves special mention here is Mr. Pupul Das. He is a local resident at Bhubaneswar. He helped the Fandoro team with locating the villages and villagers in need. His ability to speak in Odiya and connect with locals for them to share their stories was of great help to us. Thank you Pupul ji.
When compared to how Odisha struggled in 1999 and the ten thousand deaths, 2019 almost looks like a success with the way disaster relief teams handled Fani. But there were still 72 deaths. And the state is grossly short on funds for rebuilding Odisha. There is a lot of infrastructure (re)building to be done. Life is not yet back to normal. From, all that our team have seen – we don’t feel it is going to be easy or or anytime soon.
Before we end – a special thanks to all our donors. Key star donors get special mention here:
Kawaljeet Rekhi
Moolya Software Testing Private Limited
Pradeep Soundararajan
Anamika Dwivedi
Mudit
Anil Chandna
Gaurav Bansal
Aashish Beergi
Aakash
Vivek
Payal
Manoranjan Panda
OdishaMSDiansClub
….and many more
Anamika Dwivedi
Mudit
Anil Chandna
Gaurav Bansal
Aashish Beergi
Aakash
Vivek
Payal
Manoranjan Panda
OdishaMSDiansClub
….and many more
We shall share more stories on the subject soon.
Ref Links :
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cyclone-fani-odisha-super-cyclone-1516419-2019-05-03
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Fani
