Management of an Extremely Severe

Cyclonic Storm –FANI –

A case study from India

Er. ASHOK BASAMember, Disaster Risk Management Committee ,WFEO

Member, Executive Council , WFEO

Past President (2014), The Institution of Engineers (India)

• INTRODUCTION

• TYPICALITY OF ODISHA (Eastern India) COAST

• METEOROLOGICAL HISTORY

• PREPAREDNESS

• DISASTER EFFECT & IMPACT

• RELIEF & RESCUE OPERATION

• CAUSES OF SUCESSFUL MANAGEMENT

• WAY FORWARD FOR RESILIENCE

• CONCLUSION

India is one of the most disaster prone

countries of the World. The disaster scenario

of Indian Sub continent is characterized by

its high Vulnerability of physical & socio

economic profile. Traditionally the Indian Sub

continent has been facing various types of

natural calamities, which often turn into

disasters, causing huge loss of life &

property.

BASIC WIND SPEED ZONES

THERE ARE SIX BASIC WIND SPEEDS 'VB' CONSIDERED FORZONING, NAMELY 55, 50, 47, 44, 39 AND 33 M/S. FROM WINDDAMAGE VIEW POINT, THESE COULD BE DESCRIBED ASFOLLOWS:

55 M/S (198 KM/H) - VERY HIGH DAMAGE RISK ZONE - A

50 M/S (180 KM/H) - VERY HIGH DAMAGE RISK ZONE - B

47 M/S (169.2 KM/H)- HIGH DAMAGE RISK ZONE

44 M/S (158.4 KM/H)- MODERATE DAMAGE RISK ZONE - A

39 M/S (140.4 KM/H)- MODERATE DAMAGE RISK ZONE - B

33 M/S (118.8 KM/H)- LOW DAMAGE RISK ZONE

THE BAY OF BENGAL WHICH IS ADJACENT TO THEEASTERN PART OF ODISHA, POSSESS WARM SEA ANDSTILL AIR, REQUIRED FOR CYCLONE FORMATION.HAVING THE WORLD’S SHALLOWEST COASTAL WATER,THIS IS ONE OF THE SIXTH MOST CYCLONE PRONEAREAS ON EARTH. ODISHA COAST IS NOT ONLYVULNERABLE TO CYCLONE, BUT ALSO TO STORMSURGE. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST STORM SURGEVULNERABLE REGION OF THE WORLD. SIMILARLY WINDAND CYCLONE HAZARD MAP OF ODISHA REVEALS THATALMOST ONE-FOURTH OF THE STATE IS SUBJECT TOVERY HIGH DAMAGE RISK ZONE WITH VELOCITY 50M/SEC.

Landfall of cyclones developed over the Bay of Bengal between 1891 and 2016. (Source: IMD)

ONE OF THE REASONS WHY TROPICAL CYCLONESARE MORE PRONE TO THE BAY OF BENGAL IS THATITS SURFACE TEMPERATURE IS MORE THAN THAT OFTHE ARABIAN SEA. TROPICAL CYCLONES GENERALLYNEED A TEMPERATURE OF AROUND 28 DEGREESCELSIUS. IN THE LAST CENTURY, OUT OF THE 1019CYCLONIC DISTURBANCES IN THE INDIANSUBCONTINENT, 890 WERE ALONG THE EASTERNCOAST, AND OF THESE, 260 CYCLONICDISTURBANCES HAD THEIR LANDFALL ALONG THEODISHA COAST. THE CYCLONES WHICH HIT THE STATEIN THE LAST TWO DECADES ARE THE 1999 SUPERCYCLONE, PHAILIN 2013 AND TITLI 2018.

Another peculiarity with the Bay of Bengal is that it

is known for its potential in generating dangerous

high storm tides. When these tides and cyclonic

storms coincide, it becomes a major killer.

According to the India Meteorological Department,

"Out of 10 recorded cases of very heavy loss of

life (ranging from about 40,000 to well over

2,00,000) in the world due to tropical cyclones,

nine cases were in the Bay of Bengal and the

Arabian Sea."

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Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani was

the strongest Tropical Cyclone to stike Odisha,

an eastern state of India since 1999 Odisha

Super Cyclone. It commenced from west of

Sumatra on 26th April from a Tropical

depression. Since its conditions were

favorable, it rapidly intensified into an

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm and

reached its peak on 3rd May 2019.

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The Fani, a rare summer cyclone, hit the

Odisha coast close to Puri on 3rd May 2019

between 0800 and 1000 hours. As reported by

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the

maximum sustained surface wind speed of

175–180 kilometres per hour (kmph) gusting to

205 kmph was observed during landfall at

Satpada.

Generally, extremely severe cyclones hit India's

east coast in the post-monsoon season (October-

December). IMD data on cyclones that hit India

between 1965 and 2017 show that the country had

come across 39 extremely severe cyclones in these

52 years. Of these, nearly 60 per cent (23) were

between October and December.

Arrival of Fani in the month of May is an

unusual time .

What makes Cyclone Fani special is its

trajectory. Fani started developing around the

Equator and moved upwards. The long journey

allowed it to gather a lot of moisture and

momentum, resulting in strong winds.

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Preparedness :

Naval Ships & Aircrafts kept ready by Indian

Navy at two air bases to face the aftermath of the

storm & help the rescue & relief operation.

300 power boats , 02 Helicopters & many chain

saws to cut down trees were arranged by the

Odisha Government.

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Preparedness….

1.55 million people evacuated towards 9,177 shelters in 24

hrs.

25,000 tourists were evacuated by 23 special trains and 18

buses.

All fishing activities were suspended two days prior to the

landfall.

Twenty Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) units,

335 Fire Service units and 25 units of the National Disaster

Response Force (NDRF) were deployed

20

Preparedness …..

District and Block Emergency Operation Centres

were activated 24×7.

Nearly 4.5 lakh polythene sheets (temporary

shelter materials) were pre-positioned at district/

sub-district levels and 1.5 lakh kept ready for air-

dropping after the cyclone.

Nearly 600 pregnant women were shifted to Maa

Gruhas/ delivery points before the landfall.

21

Preparedness…..

To ensure food security in the aftermath of the

cyclone, food grains were pre-positioned at the fair

price shops for distribution among beneficiaries

under targeted public distribution system (TPDS).

22

Preparedness :

Disaster response forces of the Govt were

prepositioned in vulnerable locations .

Food packets for air droping were made ready for

Airforce helicopters to drop to people.

Senior Govt. officers were sent to Vulnerable

locations for co-ordination.

The approach of Govt of Odisha is to have Zero

Casualty.

23

Preparedness …..

More than 45,000 volunteers , 2000 emergency

workers , 100,000 officials , youth clubs & other civil

society organisations such as National Disaster

Response Force(NDRF) , Odisha Disaster Rapid

Action Force (ODRAF), Panchayat Raj Institute

(PRI) agencies worked together round the clock to

evacuate 1.55 million people in 24 hrs.

It is the largest evacuation program ever done in

the World.

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Disaster Effects and Impact.

Fani left 64 dead, affecting about

16.5 million people in over 18,388

villages in 14 of the 30 districts in

the state

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Disaster Effects and Impact….

Approx Population affected 16.5 million. (About

36% of total population of Odisha)

Houses damaged 3,61,743 Nos

Animals Affected: 3.45 million

Poultry birds killed : 0.54 million

Agricultural Area affected : 19,734 Ha

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Road Sector

Energy Sector

Disaster Effects and Impact….

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Disaster Effects and Impact….

Housing, power, telecommunication, agriculture,

livestock, fisheries, and livelihoods were the

most affected sectors

The assessment estimates the total damage to

be worth INR 16,465 crore (USD 2,352 million)

and total loss to be worth INR 7,712 crore (USD

1,102 million). The estimated recovery needs

are INR 29,315 crore (USD 4,188 million)

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Relief and Rescue Operations.

•Immediately after the landfall, a massive rescue

and response operation was launched.

•Sixty teams from NDRF, 18 units of ODRAF

and 585 fire teams came into action.

•Nearly 45,000 volunteers were mobilised to

carry out relief operations.

•Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy

also supported the state government in rescue

and relief operations.

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Relief and Rescue Operations….

• About 10,000 food packets were airdropped.

• More than 6,000 free kitchens were opened to

serve hot cooked meals with the help of the

local panchayats and self help groups (SHGs).

• Within 48 hours major roads were cleared

and power supply restored within two weeks in

the major towns of Puri and Bhubaneswar.

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Causes of Successful Management of FANI.

A. Early Warning System (EWS) :

India Meteorological Dept has built an effective

service to predict accurate timing of cyclone

formation in Bay of Bengal & when it will have

a land fall in the Indian Coast line. This EWS

enables the state to get prepared, For the

disaster & steps to be taken to minimise the

loss of lives. People also follow the Govt

Instructions once warning is issued.

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Causes of Successful Management of FANI…

B. Clear Communication System:

Roughly 2.6 million text messages were

transmitted to the probable effected area.

Regular Press briefings were made.

People were advised not to get Panicked.

Dos & Don’ts are clearly communicated.

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Causes of Successful Management of FANI..

C. Effective coordination of groups :

Govt agencies including volunteers & local

Communication groups worked together.

Disaster response forces of the govt were

pre-positioned in vulnerable locations, food

packets for air dropping were made ready

for air force helicopters to drop to people.

Senior govt offices were sent to effected

areas for Co-ordination.

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The successful management of Fani by Govt of

Odisha, in India brought in International Praise

& Global Appreciation .

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“India's zero casualty approach to managing

extreme weather events is a major contribution

to the implementation of the #SendaiFramework

and the reduction of loss of life from such

events,"

-Mami Mizutori,

-the Special Representative of the United

Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster

Risk Reduction, and head of the Geneva-based

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR),

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Way Forward for Resilience.While the goal of zero mortality is close to realisation,

the economic losses in livelihoods and infrastructure

have been increasing. The combined economic

losses of USD 5.7 billion from recent cyclones,

Phailin, Titli, and Fani demonstrates the need to

establish a strong framework of disaster risk

governance and integrate the principle of resilience in

every area of development planning and recovery

process to achieve a substantial reduction in the

economic losses.

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Way Forward for Resilience...

It is important to recognise that reducing

economic losses due to these disasters is

critical to reducing poverty and vulnerability. It

requires a continuous support for recovery as

well as improving the quality of housing and

infrastructure through better building standards

and regulations.

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Way Forward for Resilience….

A recovery programme is the right context for

bringing these long-term changes and improving

resilience at the household, community, and

state levels. As per the latest data available, the

Cyclone Fani Damage ,Loss and Needs

Assessment (DLNA) estimates the costs of

recovery to be USD 4.1 billion.

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Way Forward for Resilience….

As part of the recovery process, the

Government of Odisha has emphasised the

need for building resilience across all sectors

with a priority in the following sectors:

• Housing

• Livelihoods

• Infrastructure

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Conclusion.

Successful management of any natural disaster involves

two important parameters.

•Minimizing the loss of life.

•Minimizing the loss of Infrastructure & Livelihood .

While in India, we have been successful in minimizing the

loss of life , we are far away from achieving the goal to

minimize the financial loss of infrastructure and livelihood

due to repeated occurrence of Natural Disasters.

After FANI emphasis is being given for adopting Resilient

Housing, Resilient Livelihood & Resilient Infrastructure

which will certainly lead to achieve the second parameter.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………

MUCH OF THE MATERIALS FOR THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN COLLECTED

FROM DIFFERENT TEXTS PUBLISHED BY OSDMA, NDMA , IMD &

DIFFERENT PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA. WHO ARE BEING

ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE AUTHOR. THE AUTHOR , FURTHER WISHES

TO ACKNOWLEDGE EVERY OTHER SOURCE WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT

MENTIONED (WHICH IS PURELY UNINTENTIONAL), THAT HAS

CONTRIBUTED IN PREPARATION OF THIS ARTICLE.