Cyclone Phailin: Five killed in Odisha

High windspeeds, heavy rain hit Gopalpur in Odisha's Ganjam district ahead of the cyclone touching land mass

At least five people were killed as high windspeeds and heavy rain hit Gopalpur in Odisha's Ganjam district ahead of Cyclone Phailin's landfall.

Three persons, including a woman, were killed after uprooted trees fell on them in the state capital and at Khalikote and Polsara in Ganjam district, police sources said.

Water entered the Arjipalli Marine Police Station on the sea shore at Gopalpur following which the policemen were asked to evacuate, DIG southern range Amitav Thakur told PTI.

He said police officials were going from house-to-house to ensure people of Gopalpur were shifted to safety.

There was some difficulty in persuading fishermen to shift as they did not want to be evacuated, the DIG said.

Of the total 3.61 lakh people evacuated in the last 24 hours, 1.2 lakh were from Ganjam district alone, Revenue and Disaster Management minister S N Patro said.

Besides Ganjam, 80,000 people in Puri district, 16,380 in Khurda district, 56,998 in Jagatsingh district, 16,000 in Kendrapara district, 14,205 in Bhadrak district, 1950 in Balasore district, 46,409 in Cuttack district, 1,235 in Nayagarh district and 8,000 in Gajapati district were moved to safety, Patro said.