Cyclone Phailin is gradually taking the shape of a super cyclone and is all set to hit the Gopalpur coast in Odisha at a wind speed of about 220 kmph by Saturday evening.

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The Odisha government on Friday has started evacuating people living in the low lying areas. Until now it has evacuated about six lakh people in the five coastal districts.

The air force, navy, national disaster relief force (NDRF), Odhisha disaster relief force (ODRF) and others are ready to undertake relief and rescue operation as soon as the cyclone hits the coast, said Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P.K. Mohapatra terming the cyclone Phailin as “not less than a super cyclone.”

Mohapatra pointed that though the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the wind speed will be limited to 185 kmph, it is blowing at the speed of 220 kmph. “The US Navy has also forecast that the wind speed will be above 240 kmph.  Therefore, the cyclone Phailin is not less than any super cyclone for us,” Mohapatra said.

The SRC said IMD had 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, I.S. Rathore, Director General of IMD said Phailin lay over east central Bay of Bengal and remained stationary for some time. At present it is about 450 km south-southeast of Paradip and 460 km southeast of Gopalpur. Rathore said cyclone will make a land fall at around 6 PM at Gopalpur coast on October 12. He said coastal Odisha especially Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Ganjam, Rayagada and Srikakulum district of Andhra Pradesh will bear the brunt of the cyclone . The wind speed will be 220-230 kmph 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 at Gopalpur coast.

Rathore said the wind speed at the epicenter, which is Gopalpur coast, will be 100 kmph on Friday evening and it will increase to 150 to 200 kmph at night. He said the cyclone will weaken and remain for couple of days and enter north Chhatisgarh, South Jharkhand. He said when the cyclone will cross Odisha coast there will be heavy rainfall especially in gangetic West Bengal. He predicted that there will be rainfall in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh due to the effect of cyclone. The IMD will be cautiously monitoring the movement of the cyclone while it will be approaching the land mass.

IMD forecast 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 of 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.

At least 28 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are at the disposal of the Odisha government for evacuation and relief operations, senior officials said after attending a review meeting. Each team has been constituted of 20 personnel. So far eight teams of NDRF has been deployed in Puri district.

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.

Revenue and disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patro said that the district collectors have been told to complete evacuation of people by Friday evening.”We do not want to take any chance,” Patro said and adding that all the cyclone shelters has been made ready for any kind of eventuality.

Meanwhile, the health department has cancelled the leave of all doctors and recalled them to join duty immediately.