Cyclone Dana: Odisha's Kendrapara district escapes largely unscathed

Kendrapara: People in Odisha's Kendrapara district, which was on the path of cyclone Dana, heaved a sigh of relief as the severe cyclonic storm largely spared the coastal district on Friday.

While there is no report of loss of life and property, tidal surges made inroads into some of the villages and agriculture fields have come to light, officials said.

"No loss of life has been reported so far. The loss of property has been minimal. We are hopeful of restoring normalcy shortly," said Kendrapara Collector, Smruti Ranjan Pradhan.

The Bhitarkanika National Park, which was home to the landfall spot, has largely been saved from the devastating aftermath of the cyclone though details from the park are yet to emerge, said an official.

The settlement colony at Bagapatia, housing the people displaced from their native land in Satabhaya due to sea erosion, has come under water inundation as tidal surge entered into the colony, he said.

The severe cyclone storm made landfall near Habelikhati nature camp in Bhitarkanika National Park as it had been forecast in advance by IMD.

"With adequate precautionary measures and timely evacuation, we have successfully withstood nature's fury with zero human casualty. The damage has been minimal with the cave-in of some kutcha houses. The uprooting of standing trees in several places of coastal Rajnagar block has disrupted the road communication," said Nishant Mishra, Block Development Officer of Rajnagar block in Kendrapara district.

However, road communication has largely been restored by ODRAF teams which cleared the uprooted trees, he said.

Kendrapara and neighbouring Bhadrak were on the path of 'Dana'. The government agencies had sounded alert well in advance evacuating people from vulnerable pockets. The cyclone, of course, impacted the district with strong velocity wind, heavy downpour, uprooting trees, damaging power infrastructures in some parts and blowing away scores of kutcha houses.

The villages that bore the brunt of the cyclonic storm are Talchua, Rangani, Keruapala, Baghamari, Dangamal, Iswarpur, Gupti and Satabhaya, said an official.

"By the grace of God, we are saved from nature's fury. The wind speed was less. Besides, we experienced heavy rain", said Ramakant Sahu, a local in a seaside Ramnagar village in Kendrapara district.

Cyclones are a recurring phenomenon here. We have taken nature's fury in our stride and have withstood the ups and downs of life with tenacity. Now with the worst fear over, we look forward to normal life, said Krutibash Pradhan, a local from Rajnagar in Kendrapara district.

Heavy rain accompanied by gusty wind caused considerable damage to the crops. Though nature has been kind towards us this time in sparing us from cyclonic devastation, damage to agriculture is on a large scale. The crop fields are flooded. Only after the rain subsides, we can assess the extent of damage, said Priyanath Pradhan, a farmer from Talchua village.