'Phailin' exhausts fury, destroys communication lines

Cyclone 'Phailin' exhausted its fury on Gopalpur, the entry point when it crossed Odisha coast last night, and Berhampur, disrupting all communication links with the rest of the state and the country.
Municipal Commissioner of Berhampur, Dr Ajit Kumar Mishra, told PTI that while there has been no human casualty in his jurisdiction, he has lost all communication with his superiors outside Berhampur.
"I have been moving around in the town on a bike and initial estimates suggest that while there is no loss of human lives, a number of poles and trees have gone down.
"I'm also not able to communicate with the Divisional Commissioner of Ganjam and other senior officials," Mishra said.

Mishra said that rescue teams were being sent to both the areas to begin relief work and clear all obstacles that would have emerged in the aftermath of the cyclonic rain and wind speeds that touched up to 220 kmph.
Meanwhile, a squad of IAF Garud commandos have descended on the Gopalpur area to carry out special rescue operations.

But they were too clueless to begin their task as the team could not establish contact with senior district officials.
"We are in the area since last evening and our task was to rescue people or to initiate any complex retrieval operations in the aftermath of the cyclone.

"But the team is still to get any clear instructions to go to any specific area which would have borne the brunt of the cyclone," a senior official of the IAF squad said on condition of anonymity.
Normal vehicular traffic has begun in both areas even as electricity and phone services continue to be disrupted.