In less than six hours super cyclone Phailin will hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh with a windspeed of 250kmph affecting more than 1.2 crore people.

The state adminsitration has started evacuating people living in Phalin's area of impact to neraby schools and buildings. It has also ordered  forcible evacuation of people living in thatched and tile houses in the coastal areas in order to avoid any causualty like the last super cycline that hit the state in 1999 leaving thousands dead. 

Phailin is likely to hit the Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Paradip with its epicenter at Gopalpur in the southern part of Odisha. In fact the American Meteorological Research Centre has put it in category-5, which is the highest category and has compared it with Hurricane-5. US navy's joint typhoon warning centre has predicted that the wind speed will be 240 to 260 kmph when cyclone Phailin hits the land mass.  The India meteorological department (IMD) has put it in the category of 6.0, which means the wind speed will be 220 kmph.

Meanwhile, the Odisha government has termed it as a super cyclone and chief minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed to the people not to panic over the situation and requested them to cooperate with the state government authorities in relief and rescue operation immediately after the cyclone hits the state coast. He also appealed to the people’s representatives at blocks and panchayats to support and help the people.

Patnaik said that the state government is ready for any eventuality. Evereyone from block to state administration, defence personnel, national disaster relief force(NDRF) and Odhisha disaster relief force (ODRAF) have been asked to stay on alert for relief and rescue operation. ODRAF has been station at Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Puri, Chattrapur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Gajapati and Kandhamal.
 
R.P. Koche, central range inspector general of police said, in his range seven district will be affected the most. "Police, ODRAF and NGO personnel have been put on high alert to tackle any kind of impending situation and more forces are being mobilised to these seven districts, which will be hit badly by the cyclone," he said.
 
Indian Army has rushed 300 jawans to Odisha for rescue and relief operation. Personnel of air force and navy from the nearby bases have been pressed into service and have kept on stand-by mode for rescue operations.  Twenty teams of NDRF have arrived at Bhubaneswar and another eight teams will be reaching on Saturday. The 20 teams have been deployed to places which will be badly affected. The other eight teams will be kept on standby at Biju Patnaik airport and will be sent to vulnerable areas later. ODRAF has been kept on high alert in seven coastal districts.  Army, air force and navy choppers have also reached Bhubaneswar and have been kept on stand- by mode.

IMD has said that the Phailin is travelling at a speed of 15 kmph and there has been no change of direction of the movement. However, the exact situation can be known when it reaches 300 km from the place of impact.

Phailin is at present lying about 300 km from Gopalpur coast and is likely to hit Odisha coast at a wind speed of about 220 kmph by Saturday 6 PM. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P.K. Mohapatra pointed that though the IMD said that the wind limit will be limited to 185 kmph, the latest forecast  rates it at 220 kmph.

The SRC said IMD has declared 1999 calamity as a super cyclone as the wind speed crossed 220 kmph. “This time around, the wind speed is not much different than the previous super cyclone as wind speed would cross 220 kmph.”

Meanwhile, Dr. L.S. Rathore, director general of IMD said Phailn lay over east central bay of bengal and remained stationary for some time. At present it is about 300 km south-southeast of Paradip and 310 km southeast of Gopalpur. Rathore said cyclone will make a land fall at around 6 PM at Gopalpur coast today. He said coastal Odisha especially Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Ganjam, Rayagada and Srikakulum district of Andhra Pradesh will bear the brunt of the cyclone.  There would be gusting wind speed of 220-230 in these districts when the cyclone hits the area. Moreover, there will be heavy to very heavy rainfall, which will be more than 25 cms. The storm surge will be 2.5 meter to 3.0 above astronomical tide at Gopalpur coast.

Rathore said the cyclone will weaken and remain for couple of days and enter north Chhatisgarh, South Jharkhand and when it will cross Odisha coast there will be heavy to very heavy rainfall especially in gangetic West Bengal. He predicted that there will be rainfall in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh due to its effect. The IMD will be cautiously monitoring the movement of the cyclone while it will be approaching the land mass.

"It is very difficult to compare two cyclones and their possible impacts. They are different entities and their crossing point along the coast matters a lot. At the same time, there is a resemblance in terms of intensity, so there is some similarity with the 1999 cyclone," Dr  Rathore added.

"The cyclone is pretty voluminous, but it's not half the size of the country and its radius keeps increasing and decreasing."

IMD forecast in Bhubaneswar said that a storm surge will inundate low laying areas of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts. Local Cautionary (LC-III) has been hoisted in all the ports at Paradip and Gopalpur in the state.  Squally wind speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph have already started along the Odisha coast since Friday morning under the influence of Phailin.

Meanwhile, a worried state government held several meetings and took stock of the situation in the changed circumstances. The state government has already asked the district authorities to start evacuation of people living in the low lying areas close to the sea.  “We have ordered that nobody should be allowed to stay in the thatched and weak houses,” SRC said.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patro said that the district collectors have completed evacuation of people by Friday evening.”We do not want to take any chance,” Patro said and adding that all the cyclone shelters are ready for any kind of eventuality.

Meanwhile, the health department has cancelled the leave of all doctors and recalled them to join duty immediately.  The CM has directed to stake stringent action against hoarders as reports of black marketing started pouring in. Moreover, health teams along with doctors and paramedics have reached Bhubaneswar. Sufficient food, water, medicines and kerosene have been stocked for next 15-days, said food and civil supplies secretary Santosh Sarangi. He said petrol and diesel have also been stored for 15 days and there is no shortage.