Cyclone Titli Makes Landfall Near Palasa, Zero Casualty In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Titli crossed the north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coast near Palasa in Srikakulam district to the south-west of Gopalpur as a very severe cyclonic storm with estimated maximum sustained surface wind speed of 140-150  kmph gusting up to 165 kmph between 4.30 am and 5.30 am on Thursday.

The surface wind speed of the cyclone at the time of the landfall was 102 kmph in Gopalpur and 56 kmph in Kalingapatnam.

The landfall process will continue for the next 2-3 hours as the wall cloud in the rear sector of the cyclone is yet to completely enter the land, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in a release.

The cyclonic storm will gradually weaken after 2-3 hours and re-curve towards the north-east direction and move towards Gangetic West Bengal across coastal Odisha, it added.

Talking to the media, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said the cyclonic storm has affected the Gajapati district the most, while no major damage has been reported from Ganjam district.

“There is minor damage of communication network in Ganjam district. At present, there is no power in the entire Ganjam district. Efforts are on to restore power in the affected areas, mostly in Gopalpur where the intensity of the cyclonic storm was felt. Telecommunication to all the block headquarters has remained intact. However, road communication between Gopalpur and Berhampur has been affected due to the uprooting of big trees. In Patrapur area, thatched houses have been damaged while the asbestos roofs of the houses blown away,” he added.

He further said that the Gajapati district has sustained maximum damage. “As informed by the Gajapati collector, road communication from Paralakhemundi to Kashinagar, Mohana and Gosani has been completely disrupted as several big trees have been uprooted. Besides, several thatched and asbestos houses have been completely damaged,” he said.

The SRC  informed that there is no report of any human casualty so far.

“We had shifted about 3 lakh people, including 105 pregnant women of Ganjam and 18 pregnant women of Jagatsinghpur districts, to 1112 multi-purpose shelter houses in the coastal districts yesterday,” he added.

Following the landfall of Titli, the SRC office has issued its state headquarters control room helpline number 1070 and the district control helpline number 1077.