Cyclone Fani: No damage to life and property at sea, says Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard said that no loss of life and property has been reported at sea after powerful cyclonic storm 'Fani' hit Odisha on Friday.

"Today, Fani hit Odisha with its landfall near Puri, caused extensive damage at the shore but as of now no loss of life and property at sea has been reported till now," Coast Guard Inspector General K.R Suresh told ANI.

The officer said his force has an excellent response system towards cyclones, but after cyclone 'OCKHI', Indian Coast Guard laid down new standard operating procedures to counter such disasters.

"Cyclones don't come as an accident or incident but they come with a lot of preparatory time. On April 23, we got first feeble low pressure reports hence started preparing ourselves to brace up for something serious with the assistance from Metrological Component officer," said IG Suresh.

In wake of cyclone Fani, the India Coast Guard started multi-level preparation by coordinating with maritime rescue awareness centres of the neighbouring countries in order to alert fishermen.Indian Coast Guard was on vigil on the impact day with its regional headquarters from eastern to northern command on high alert, 14 ships were put on standby and aircraft were moved to Chennai as they were in the line of impact.

"Indian Coast Guard is coordinating with the state government, NDRF teams, and district collectors to provide every possible assistance," said IG Suresh.

Since the wind speed is still 110-120 kmph and visibility is poor, Indian Coast Guard has not begun its rescue and search operations in affected districts of Odisha, but as the situation gets better it will dispatch 14 ships including two from Visakhapatnam and one from Chennai.