India Closes Port as Worst Storm in 14 Years Nears East Coast
Posted by hanna on 10/11/2013, 10:53 am
India Closes Port as Worst Storm in 14 Years Nears East Coast

By Bibhudatta Pradhan - Oct 11, 2013 8:32 AM ET

India moved oil vessels out to sea, closed one of its biggest ports and deployed rescue teams to its eastern coastline to prepare for the strongest storm in 14 years.

The cyclone named Phailin, meaning sapphire in Thai, is expected to make landfall tomorrow around 6 p.m. local time, L.S. Rathore, director-general of the India Meteorological Department, told reporters in New Delhi. The storm with wind speeds of as much as 220 kilometers (136.7 miles) an hour will hit coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states, he said.

"The storm has the potential to cause huge damage," Rathore said. "We don't contemplate it will further intensify. It will remain as a very severe cyclonic storm."

Paradip Port Trust, India's biggest dry bulk cargo facility, moved all its ships to sea and shut down operations, spokesman Prakash Chandra Mishra said by phone. The National Disaster Management Authority dispatched a 1,500-strong rescue force to the two states, while the Indian Air Force said it sent two IL-76 airlift teams and is committing two C-130J Super Hercules planes.

"We are prepared for the worst," Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, special relief commissioner of Odisha, said by phone from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

Phailin may be the strongest storm since a cyclone with maximum wind speeds of 260 kilometers per hour lashed Odisha in 1999, killing about 9,000 people, damaging 2 million houses and destroying crops spread over 1.65 million hectares.
Food, Medicine

The storm will severely affect Ganjam, Khordha, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha and Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. The storm could cause widespread damage to crops, destroy houses and disrupt power and communication lines, according to the meteorological department.

"Water, food and medicine are being kept to deal with the emergency," said Vishwapati Trivedi, federal shipping secretary.

Visakhapatnam Port Trust, the second busiest facility on India's east coast, is functioning normally as of now and has set up an emergency control office, Chairman R.P.S. Kahlon said by phone. The port handles cargo for Indian Oil Corp., the nation's biggest state-owned refiner.

In Andhra Pradesh, employees at the state-controlled power utility who were on a strike protesting a proposal to split the state returned to work.

Output dispatches at steelmaker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd., which has a manufacturing plant in Visakhapatnam, have not been affected yet, Finance Director P. Madhusudan said.
Hurricane, Typhoon

The storm system is called by different names in different parts of the world. They are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans, and typhoons in the northwestern Pacific part of Asia. In the Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific, they are called tropical cyclones.

For each cyclone formed in the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal has four, according to National Disaster Management Authority.

An estimated 320 million people, or almost a third of the country's total population, are vulnerable to cyclone-related hazards, according to NDMA. Recurring cyclones account for a large number of deaths, loss of public and private property and severe damage to infrastructure, reversing developmental gains at regular intervals.

"It's a great challenge," said M. Shashidhar Reddy, vice chairman of NDMA. "We will make all possible efforts to minimize loss of life and damage to properties."

To contact the reporter on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Niveditha Ravi at nravi2@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-11/india-closes-port-as-worst-storm-in-14-years-nears-east-coast.html
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In this thread:
Extremely dangerous Tropical Cyclone Phailin Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog - hanna, 10/11/2013, 10:49 am
  • India Closes Port as Worst Storm in 14 Years Nears East Coast - hanna, 10/11/2013, 10:53 am
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