Lakhs evacuated, 48,000 homes brought to ground in Orissa

In Orissa’s Malkangiri district on Monday. (PTI)

A day after cyclone Hudhud hit the coast and then made its way to four districts in Orissa, the state government assessed that about 48,000 kutcha houses, 24 transformers, 600 electric poles and 75 km electric wires have been damaged. Overall, the cyclone appeared to have spared the state, with four casualties reported so far.

Orissa Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra said most of the damage was reported from southern districts of Gajapati, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkanagiri, but ruled out any flood-like situation. While 25,000 houses have been damaged in Koraput district, 15,000 were hit in Gajapati. He said that energy department officials were trying to restore power connection to all district headquarters and important towns by Monday evening.

Many trees were uprooted and extensive damage to power infrastructure was reported. Gajapati district and Boipariguda block in Koraput district suffered extensive agricultural damage.

Advertisement

Officials said 2.33 lakh persons were evacuated and kept in 2,029 shelters. “The district collectors have been asked to decide whether they want to stay or go home. If some people want to go, they can go,” said Mohapatra.

Meanwhile, 30 teams of the state fire service have been sent to Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram to help with road clearing. The East Coast Railway continued to cancel several of its trains that pass through Visakhapatnam.