Cyclone Fani: Death Toll Rises To 37 In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Two more deaths due to cyclone Fani were reported in Odisha on Tuesday, taking the toll to 37.

Puri district, which experienced the landfall on May 3 morning, has accounted for the highest number of deaths at 21, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur have lost four lives each. Cuttack has reported five deaths and Kendrapada three, a release of State Emergency Operation Centre said on Tuesday.

The two new deaths have been reported from Cuttack.

Unconfirmed sources claimed that a person had also died in Salia Sahi, Bhubaneswar.

According to unofficial sources, the death toll could touch 50 as more people may have died in Puri and Khurda districts.

The Odisha government on Monday had confirmed that 35 people lost their lives due to the severe cyclonic storm.

Government sources said over 1.4 crore in over 16,000 villages and 51 urban local bodies of 14 districts – Angul, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar – have been affected.

According to Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office, 40 teams of tree cutters of the Odisha Forest Development Corp (OFDC) are engaged in clearing fallen trees in the Odisha capita, while 25 expert cutters from Andhra Pradesh are being brought to be sent to Puri.

Besides, personnel of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and fire service are carrying out renovation and restoration work.