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Tropical Cyclone Fani - Apr 2019

Disaster description

According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Tropical Cyclone FANI was 1,665 km south of Cox’s Bazar port. The storm is likely to intensify further and move in a north-westerly direction. Seas will remain very rough and maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla, and Payra remain under a storm advisory. (ECHO, 28 Apr 2019)

Tropical Cyclone FANI is moving north-west over the southern Bay of Bengal. On 29 April its centre was located approximately 610 km east of Trincomalee City (Sri Lanka) and 930 km north-east of Chennai City (Tamil Nadu, India) with maximum sustained winds of 83 km/h (tropical storm). (ECHO, 29 Apr 2019)

Cyclone Fani has further intensified into an “severe cyclonic storm” and is approaching the Odisha coast. It is likely to cross Odisha Coast somewhere between Gopalpur and Chandbali, south of Puri district around 3 May. A red alert warning for 17 districts of Odisha has been issued on 30 April. After landfall, it is likely to move to Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts of Odisha and then enter to West Bengal. (ECHO, 1 May 2019)

Tropical Cyclone FANI made landfall between Brahmagiri village and Puri City (Odisha State, India) on the morning of 3 May, with maximum sustained winds up to 240 km/h (Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale)...Over 1 million people have been evacuated from coastal communities in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and 4 852 shelters have been set up. Rail, road and air traffic have been suspended. In Bangladesh, national authorities have ordered the evacuation of 19 coastal districts and 3 868 evacuation shelters have been opened. (ECHO, 3 May 2019)

According to [BMD] on May 4 the severe cyclonic storm FANI weakened into a deep depression and it is likely to move North-North-Easter direction further inland and weaken gradually. The coastal districts of Chattogram, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Borguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barishal, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Bagherhat, Khulna, Satkhira and their offshore islands are likely to be inundated by storm surges of two to four feet height above normal astronomical tide levels. Gust wind speed of 40-50 kilometres per hour are registered over north Bay of Bengal. International media has reported 50 people injured and 14 deaths including children due to tree falls and wall collapse in Barguna, Noakhali and Patuakhali. At least 36 villages in Patuakhali, Bagerhat, Bhola and Satkhira were inundated as storm surges breached earthen dykes and overflew them, according to the National Disaster Response Coordination Centre (NDRCC). A total of 32.28km of earthen dykes were damaged. Around 13,000 houses were fully or partially damaged due to cyclonic storm in the coastal districts, including Bhola, Chandpur, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali and Barguna, according to the NDRCC. Crops on 330 acres were totally damaged while those on 52,728 acres were partially affected. According to the Category 1 Report for 4 May by Site Management and Site Sector in Cox’s Bazar, 144 refugees’ households representing 646 refugees are affected by the storm. (ECHO, 5 May 2019)

As of 6 May at 8.00 UTC, at least 33 people have been reported dead in India and another 17 in Bangladesh following the passage of Tropical Cyclone FANI. Odisha State has been the most heavily affected, with electricity and infrastructure damaged. According to the authorities, all families in Puri and Khurda districts have been "extremely severely affected" and the response is underway across 10,000 villages and 52 urban areas in north-eastern India. 13,000 houses have been damaged in Bangladesh according to preliminary estimates and national humanitarian assistance has been provided to affected families. The early evacuation of one million people in India and 1.6 million in Bangladesh prevented a higher number of fatalities, considering the cylone's severity. Tropical Cyclone FANI has now dissipated. (ECHO, 6 May 2019)

The death toll from Tropical Cyclone FANI has increased to 42 in India, while 17 fatalities have been confirmed in Bangladesh by UN OCHA. Approximately 10 million people from coastal areas in the north-eastern States of India have been affected by the tropical cyclone. (ECHO, 7 May 2019)

Despite the success in avoiding higher death tolls, the cyclone has severely affected lives and livelihoods of more than 28 million people across 3 States in India. 24 districts have been affected across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Severely impacted areas are all in Odisha, mainly the districts of Puri (where the cyclone made landfall), Khurdha, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Jagatsinghpur. More than 4.8 million children are directly impacted by the cyclone in the state of Odisha alone, most them residing in villages and slums deprived of even basic necessities. Critical services to children continue to be disrupted in the affected districts even after a week. (UNICEF, 12 May 2019)

According to damage assessment conducted in Odisha state by Indian Red Cross Society on 8 May, out of 14 districts affected by Tropical Cyclone FANI, Puri, Cuttack, Kendrapara and Jagatsinpur are the districts that were extremely affected. At least 16 million people were affected. The number of casualty reported was 43. In Puri district, more than 189,000 houses were damaged. Summer crops, orchards, plantations devastated in a large scale. (Indian Red Cross Society, 20 May 2019)

As of 8 July 2019, Cyclone Fani has killed at least 89 people in eastern India and Bangladesh. Cyclone Fani caused about US$1.81 billion in damages in both India and Bangladesh, mostly in Odisha state in India. Many of the humanitarian agencies and civil society organisations are working in relief and recovery phase. A multi-sectoral Joint Rapid Needs Assessment was undertaken by the Inter Agency Group, coordinated by Sphere India Chapter and representing over 50 civil society organizations and humanitarian agencies. (IFRC, 8 July 2019)

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