Cyclone Fani sends people home early, city wears deserted look

The main business districts of the city wore a deserted look by Friday afternoon as the fear of devastation by the severe cyclonic storm Fani sent the people to the safety of their homes.

People who had gone out for work in the morning wrapped up their schedule as fast as possible, while many schools declared a holiday.

The met department has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in most places of south Bengal, with extremely heavy falls at one or two places.

The wind velocity is likely to touch 60 km per hour in the city and adjoining districts on Friday, the weatherman said.

Gale wind speed reaching 90 to 100 kmph, gusting to 115 kmph is very likely along and off West Bengal coast from midnight, while in the interior parts the wind speed may reach upto 80 kmph, according to the Met department.

Eastern and South Eastern Railway cancelled several trains to prevent any injury to passengers or damage to railway property.

"As a precautionary measure keeping in view the safety of passengers, SER's EMU service will run as per Sunday's schedule on May 3," its spokesman Sanjay Ghosh said