Report: 1.5 cr people affected, 5 lakh houses damaged in Odisha cyclone

Over 1.5 crore people were affected and more than five lakh houses damaged by the extremely severe Cyclone Fani, which hit Odisha's coast in Puri on May 3, according to a report released on Friday.

The State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) in its report said that 159 Blocks, 16,659 villages, and 1,50,94,321 population were affected in the cyclone. 5,08,467 Houses were damaged too across 14 districts of the cyclone-affected state.

There were 21 human casualties were reported in Puri out of overall death toll of 41, the report said.

"The district of Puri and Khurdha have been extremely severely affected. For all families covered under Food Security, 50 kg of rice plus Rs. 2000 and polythene will be provided. Cuttack, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts are moderately affected. Rs 500 plus additional one month quota of rice will be provided in these districts," the SEOC said.

"Hon'ble Prime Minister has announced an ex-gratia from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund at Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 each for the persons, who got seriously injured due to FANI cyclone in the State in 2019," it further read.

The SEOC's report also stated that 14,70,197 persons evacuated and sheltered while 24,889 numbers of tourists were safely evacuated from Puri, Ganjam, Cuttack and Balasore districts.

"Under the Chief Minister's package, the houses completely damaged will be reconstructed under housing schemes expeditiously. Loss of Agriculture and horticultural crops and animal resources, fisheries will be assessed and compensated accordingly," it said.

"In all the affected districts one-month additional pension and house building assistance as per relief code i.e. Rs 95,100 for fully damaged structures, Rs 5,200 for partially damaged structures and Rs 3,200 for minor damages will be provided," it read.

In Odisha, 14 cyclone-affected districts include Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Puri.