Puri breathes easy as storm causes mininal damage
Bhubaneswar: With the trauma caused by Cyclone Fani still fresh in people’s minds, Puri on Wednesday heaved a sigh of relief as Cyclone Amphan blew past the coastal district without causing much damage.
Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds caused some concern among the residents of the district in the early hours of Wednesday, but that soon subsided by afternoon. Tuesday night was fraught with anxiety for most people in Puri as they feared the worst, given the massive destruction caused by Cyclone Fani on May 3, 2019. Their apprehensions seem to have come true on Wednesday morning, when the wind started blowing at a speed of nearly 60-70 kmph, gusting up to 90 kmph.
“We were not worried about the rain. The winds are more dangerous. Strong winds in the wake of Fani had damaged my house last year. When the wind gathered speed on Wednesday morning, we prayed for divine intervention,” said Kishore Chandra Mohanty, a resident of Puri town.
The marine fishermen of Penthakota slum on Puri beach remained awake throughout Tuesday night and kept an eye on their boats. “Fani had caused massive damage to our boats. With that fear still in mind, we tied our boats with iron chains this time. The sea was rough but luckily it was not as ferocious as it was when Fani made landfall,” said Kamarao Reddy, a fisherman.
The Puri administration made elaborate preparations to brace itself for the cyclone’s impact. Altogether 10,238 people were moved from vulnerable locations to safer places. At least 27 pregnant women were moved to hospitals between Tuesday and Wednesday. “We have not received report of any casualty in the cyclone. Those who were evacuated are back in their homes. Some roads have been blocked by uprooted trees, and they have been cleared. Crop and house damage is being assessed,” Puri collector Balwant Singh said.
The cyclone did not cause any damage to the semi-constructed chariots for the June 23 Rath Yatra. “We suspended the work on Wednesday and will resume it again on Thursday. The cloth walls around the Ratha Khala (chariot workplace) have been torn by the strong winds but the chariot parts are safe,” a carpenter said.