“Phailin” tops India’s cyclone list / “Phailin”
puts Odisha into peril / “Phailin”- the root cause of emitting greenhouse gases
/ Competition between “Phailin” and “Katrina” / Meteorologists predict
“Phailin” at the right time / “Phailin” alarms government officials of Coastal
Andhra and Odisha / “Phailin” is not a cyclone it’s a Super cyclone.
Indian Meteorological Department predicts
“Phailin” to be a super cyclone, hitting the coastlines of Andhra region and
Odisha.
· IMD
predicts “Phailin” on Saturday.
· Cyclone
to hit, the coastlines of Vishakapatnam, srikakulam and adjacent places.
· Evacuations
were made before the super cyclone, gained its momentum.
· “Katrina”
faced an equal competition this time.
· Google’s
Crisis response team became active this time.
· Fishermen
lost their valuable source of living.
Aparajitha Bukkapatanam
Srikakulam, October 21st: The
1999 Orissa cyclone was a major threat for many people washing away nearly ten
thousand people and their respective property. But the recent cyclone in
Odisha, has escaped the number of casualties this time. The Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD) estimated that the cyclone would become active on Saturday (October
12), which would likely hit the coast between Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh
and Paradip in Orissa with a wind speed of 220 Kmph, due to low pressure
depression. Phailin, being a Category 5 cyclone, has been recorded to be the
strongest cyclone, ever measured in the Indian Ocean.
As per their predictions, the cyclone gained
its momentum, washing away acres of land, damaging several electrical poles,
houses and other public property. The government authorities, being vigilant
made several food arrangements for the people and evacuated them before the
cyclone took its real turn on Saturday. Several arrangements were made to
locate the people, which also included the help of Google, which launched a
“Crisis Response Team” to help the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha government
officials to help the cyclone victims, to rescue and rehabilitate them to other
places. The minister for Information Technology and Communications, Ponnala
Lakshmaiah expressed his gratitude to the special team, Google had started, by
saying- “Google has come forward to offer their
help. We are coordinating with them. It will help us collect information
concerning the victims of the cyclone and track their status”.
The Greenpeace organization told that
such dangerous cyclones are more evident in the coming future due to extreme
emission of Greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere. Biswajit Mohanty, a member
of the Greenpeace India, said- “Since governments
have refused to deal with climate change and instead allow the pumping of ever
more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, global temperatures will continue to increase.”
Due to these immense atmospheric changes,
Phailin has become a major concern for meteorologists, fearing a strong competition
with “Katrina”, a hurricane which, devastated many parts of the United States
in 2005. “Phailin is already worse than
what the IMD is forecasting. A recent satellite estimate put Phailin's current
intensity on par with 2005's Hurricane Katrina in the United States". Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist for a US
based online magazine, Quartz, uttered these words.
The cyclone slowly dissipated on Sunday, leaving
a death toll of 23 people, which stood in contrast to the previous super
cyclone, killing nearly 10,000 people, over the eastern coastline. The Indian Meteorological Department stood
vindicated on Sunday morning, over its predictions of cyclone Phailin. LS
Rathore, Director General of the IMD said- “They have been issuing over-warnings, we have been
contradicting them.”
The predictions made by the IMD and the US
officials were proved correct, but loss of habitat, became another major
concern. Many people lost their land and property bringing them to roads. The
government officials informed that certain remedies would be prepared, for
their daily existence, but could not make up to that point. Many people in the
Ganjam district, Gopalpur and Berhampur lost their houses and acres of crop, which
was their major source of income. “In Ganjam
district alone, around 2.4 lakh houses were
partially or fully damaged,” said Ganjam collector Krishan Kumar. Electricity poles were fixed improperly, leaving some
places incomplete. Several fishermen in Vishakapatnam and Srikakulam lost their
trade, becoming helpless. A recent look into the news headlines of various
broadcasting news channels, showed a greater irresponsibility of government
officials, who didn’t cover up the final arrangements.
The only hope, which everyone can conclude upon
is, that there was a silver lining, which saved many people from the strongest
cyclone and momentarily restored people’s belief among the officials.
(eom)
