Trees uprooted, power lines snapped as Cyclone Dana pummels India’s east coast

BHUBANESWAR, India - A severe cyclonic storm pounded India’s eastern coast on Oct 25, uprooting trees, snapping power lines and inundating some areas, the authorities said, adding that no deaths or injuries were reported.

Cyclone Dana made landfall in Odisha state around midnight with wind speeds of 100kmh to 110kmh, gusting up to 120kmh, and is expected to weaken into a cyclonic storm by morning, the weather department said.

It is expected to weaken further into a deep depression in the afternoon.

Odisha had closed schools, suspended flights to and from its capital Bhubaneswar

until the morning of Oct 25, and evacuated more than half a million people in anticipation of the storm.

“We don’t have any reports of damage to life or property, only damage to trees. Power in the affected area will be restored by late afternoon,” said Mr Dilip Routrai, administrative chief of the region where the cyclone made landfall.

Heavy rain also lashed parts of the neighbouring state of West Bengal and, accompanied by a surge in the sea water, left low-lying areas inundated, damaging the standing paddy crop that was almost ready for harvest in some fields.

Ports and industries in the state did not sustain any damage, Mr Routrai said.

Paradip port, where work had been suspended since Oct 23, had resumed normal operations, a senior port official told Reuters.

By late morning on Oct 25, people in several areas began returning to their homes from shelters.

“We had tied our goats at home before we left for the shelter and returned to find that both they and our house were safe,” one resident told a local television channel.

Mr Bankim Hazra, Minister for Sunderban Affairs, said: “Winter vegetables also perished in large agricultural tracts because of heavy rain and storm surge of the sea water that entered many areas in the Sunderbans belt.”

Flight operations resumed on the morning of Oct 25 at airports in Bhubaneswar and the West Bengal capital of Kolkata, where they had been suspended since the evening of Oct 24.

Some of the 200 train services that were suspended also resumed operations.

Severe storms pummel the coasts of India and neighbouring Bangladesh

during the cyclone season from April to December each year

, damaging both life and property.

Odisha saw its worst cyclone in recent years in 1999, which raged for 30 hours and killed 10,000 people. REUTERS