See the recovery efforts in Gaza as ceasefire appears to hold 'Is everything I'm trying to do pointless? ': Syrians helpless in face of 'sham' election Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs Residents stand near stalls along a road amidst debris while strong winds batter Balasore district in Odisha state on May 26, 2021 as Cyclone Yaas barrels towards India's eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP) (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images) France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame speak as they walk in the grounds of The Presidential Palace in Kigali on May 27, 2021, after their press conference and prior to their official luncheon. - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Rwanda on May 27, 2021, for a highly symbolic visit aimed at moving on from three decades of diplomatic tensions over France's role in the 1994 genocide in the country. Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images) (CNN) — What is expected to be India’s strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in 20 years is barreling toward 100 million people on the country’s east coast, prompting officials to begin emergency evacuations. On Thursday, Tropical Cyclone Fani had strengthened significantly in the Bay of Bengal, with maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph) and gusts of up to 305 kilometers per hour (190 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Fani, which is about 60 kilometers (38 miles) off the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states, is equivalent in intensity to a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic, or a supertyphoon in the Pacific. (It’s 2 mph away from a Category 5 hurricane, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.) It is not expected to make landfall until Friday morning in Odisha, near the city of Puri, but tropical cyclone-force winds are already coming ashore in portions of Andhra Pradesh and along the Odisha coast as well. With winds expected to be 240 kilometers per hour (150 mph) at landfall, Tropical Cyclone Fani would be the strongest storm to hit the region since a similar system struck Odisha in 1999, resulting in at least 10,000 deaths. NASA MODIS Cyclone Fani is due to make landfall Friday in India's Odisha state. As Fani was classified as an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” in India, the country’s coast guard and navy deployed ships and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and air force units have also been put on standby in Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh states. Flights have been canceled from midnight Thursday at Bhubaneswar Airport in Odisha and for Kolkata Airport from 9:30 p.m. Friday, according to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation. Eleven districts along the Odisha coast are on red alert, and some 900 cyclone shelters have been set up to house evacuees. Schools were shuttered across the state Thursday and Friday. Teams are going door to door to warn people. “They are being told what to take with them if they leave and the precautions they need to take if they stay,” said Ameya Patnaik, assistant commandant for the National Disaster Response Force in Odisha. Evacuations have also begun in neighboring Andhra Pradesh, while those in West Bengal have been told to be ready to leave, officials told CNN. Fishermen have been warned not to venture out to the sea due to the extreme conditions. Cyclone #Fani has continued to strengthen and now has max winds of 155 mph - the strongest a cyclone has been this early in the calendar year in the North Indian Ocean since the Bangladesh Cyclone of 1991. pic.twitter.com/1qffcFjVyn — Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) May 2, 2019 Fani has strengthened rapidly and is the strongest storm to move through the Bay of Bengal this early in the year since Tropical Cyclone Nargis in 2008. “The Central Government is ready to provide all possible assistance that would be required. Prayers for the safety and well-being of our citizens,” Modi said in a post on Twitter. Impacts STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images Fishing boats at Konark Beach prepare this week for Tropical Cyclone Fani in eastern India's Odisha. Fani is expected to bring large storm surges and significant wind damage near the landfall location. Inland flooding will also be a major threat. Portions of eastern India and Bangladesh can expect 150 to 300 mm (6 to 12 inches) of rain with locally higher amounts regardless of the intensity. As Fani approaches India it will be moving nearly parallel to the coast. A slight move to the east or west would have a significant impact on the timing of landfall as well as the intensity. A more easterly track means that landfall would be farther north in India, perhaps even into Bangladesh. If that happens the storm would likely be a category or two weaker as it moves over cooler waters. Low-lying river deltas of northeastern India are especially vulnerable to storm-surge flooding. Cyclone season Fani is the first tropical cyclone of the year in the northern Indian Ocean. The season doesn’t have a defined start and end like the Atlantic basin season, but it does have two main periods of activity: late April to early June, and October to November. These two periods are prior to, and immediately following, India’s southwest monsoon season. The southwest monsoon season lasts from June through September and provides India with the vast majority of its annual rainfall. Tropical cyclone activity during the monsoon season is extremely rare because the monsoon is characterized by high wind shear which makes it difficult for tropical storms to form. CNN’s Swati Gupta wrote from New Delhi and Helen Regan from Hong Kong, while Brandon Miller reported from Atlanta. CNN’s Taylor Ward also contributed to the report.<doc-sep>Cyclone Fani: East Coast Railway cancels 74 trains, alert issued by weather dept BHUBANESWAR: More than a million people are being moved to safety as a tense Odisha battens down the hatches to take on the might of the “extremely severe” cyclone Fani , which is set to make landfall near Puri between 8am and 10am on Friday.An estimated 10,000 villages and 52 towns in Odisha will come in the path of the cyclone, which could see winds gusting up to 225 kmph, the Union home ministry said after PM Narendra Modi held a top level meeting on Thursday to assess preparations for the cyclone.This could be the first time since the 1999 Super Cyclone that the state would bear the brunt of such a severe storm. The 1999 cyclone killed nearly 10,000 people and battered the state with winds of 270-300 kmph. Cyclone Fani is expected to remain “extremely severe” for four to six hours after landfall, IMD officials said in New Delhi. It will then gradually weaken.The meteorological department warned of “total destruction” of thatched huts and kutcha houses, major damage to roads and crops, the uprooting of power poles and potential danger from flying objects as the storm moves north-northeastwards after landfall and sweeps through Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts before moving to neighbouring West Bengal.Around 8 lakh people were evacuated from low-lying areas by 7pm on Thursday and more are being shifted to the safety of storm shelters in coastal areas.Rail, road and air traffic have been completely suspended in coastal districts. Flight operations at the Biju Patnaik International Airport have been suspended for 24 hours from Thursday midnight while more than 200 trains have been cancelled. Operations at Paradip, Gopalpur and Dhamra ports have been closed since Thursday.The Election Commission of India has, meanwhile, lifted the model code of conduct from 11 districts to facilitate rescue and relief measures. It has also approved shifting of polled EVMs of four assembly constituencies in Gajapati and Jagatsinghpur districts to safer places.Apart from the massive evacuation operations for cyclone Fani, the state government has appealed to the public to remain indoors on Friday morning and not to come out till the storm passes over.All educational institutions, commercial establishments, shops and offices will remain closed on Friday morning while movement of vehicles has been restricted. “The state government is fully prepared to tackle the cyclone. Each life is precious for us,” chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, appealing to the people not to panic.According to the India Meteorology Department (IMD) forecast at 5.30pm on Thursday, the cyclone lay centred at about 275 km south-southwest of Puri.District officials have identified 117 and 107 probable flood inundation villages under Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers respectively, if they receive more than 1 lakh cusecs of flood water. People from these villages would be evacuated.The entire state administration is on its toes to minimize the damage and loss of lives in the impending calamity. Patnaik held a series of meetings with district collectors and senior officials and was briefed on the state’s preparedness. He also asked top executives of telecom operators to ensure immediate restoration of telecommunication lines in the aftermath of the disaster. Senior bureaucrats including top police officers have been assigned to oversee relief, rescue and restoration work.The government has set up 4,852 cyclone and flood shelters, where evacuees have been provided with cooked food. As many as 604 women, who are at advanced stages of pregnancy, have been shifted to maternal care centres. The health department has formed 302 rapid response teams comprising health officials to provide first aid to affected persons.Three Navy ships — Sahyadri, Ranvir and Kadmatt — have been kept ready with relief material and medical teams so that they can become the first responder and commence rescue operation as soon as the cyclone crosses the coast. Additional relief material, medical teams and diving squads have been shifted from Visakhapatnam to Odisha by road on Thursday evening to augment the rescue and relief efforts. Aircraft and helicopters have been kept on standby for immediate deployment to carry out aerial survey, aid in rescue operation and for air-dropping relief material as and when required.Over 300 boats have also been kept ready to be engaged in the rescue and relief work to deal with the flood situation which could follow the cyclone.In Andhra Pradesh, about 25,000 people took shelter in various relief campus set up in 12 cyclone-prone mandals of Srikakulam district on Thursday.A total of 6,000 new electric poles are on standby in case of any damage to the poles.<doc-sep>NEW DELHI — Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated along India's eastern coast on Thursday as authorities braced for a cyclone moving through the Bay of Bengal that was forecast to bring extremely severe wind and rain. The India Meteorological Department in New Delhi said Cyclone Fani was expected to make landfall on Friday with gale-force winds of up to 124 mph likely starting Thursday night. It warned of "extremely heavy falls" over parts of the state of Odisha and its southern neighbor Andhra Pradesh. India's National Disaster Management Authority forecast "high to phenomenal" sea conditions for most of the Indian states along the Bay of Bengal. Fishermen were advised not to venture into deep waters. A 4.9-foot storm surge was expected to inundate low-lying areas. Fearing that Fani could be the worst storm since 1999, when a cyclone killed around 10,000 people and devastated large parts of Odisha, Indian officials put the navy, air force, army and coast guard on high alert, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. A satellite view of Cyclone Fani on May 1, 2019. AP Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Cabinet ministers and weather and disaster-response officials for a briefing on the measures being taken. The Meteorological Department projected "total destruction" of thatched-roof huts, flooding of farmland and orchards, and the uprooting of telephone poles. Odisha's special relief commissioner, Bishnupada Sethi, said that preparations for Fani included the country's largest evacuation operation, of around 880,000 people. More than 800 shelters were opened and around 100,000 dry food packets were ready to be airdropped. "We've been preparing plans for the last few days to ensure that all the people who are vulnerable will be shifted to our cyclone centers," Sethi said. Tourists were provided special trains to leave the popular beach town of Puri in Odisha on Thursday, according to Indian media reports. The National Disaster Response Force dispatched 54 rescue and relief teams to flood-prone areas along the coast and as far afield as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a group of islands that comprise a state located about 840 miles east of mainland India in the Bay of Bengal. The teams included doctors, engineers and deep-sea divers equipped with boats, scuba sets and satellite phones, the group said in a statement. In the coastal city of Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, strong winds and heavy rain battered an empty beach where fishing boats had been left on shore. People piled into truck beds and buses reinforced with tin sheeting. Residents tied plastic tarps over their tin-roof shacks before abandoning them. Fani was also forecast to hit Bangladesh, tracking north through ports including Cox's Bazar, the coastal district where more than a million Rohingya from Myanmar live in refugee camps. Aid agencies warned that the Rohingya were at threat. Hillol Sobhan, local communications director for the group NGO Care, said it is keeping emergency supplies for the refugees in Cox's Bazar. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority said it suspended operations of all vessels. Authorities also halted activities at Chittagong Seaport, which handles 80 percent of the country's overseas trade.<doc-sep>
Nearly 800,000 people in eastern India have been evacuated from the expected path of a major cyclone packing winds up to 125 miles per hour and torrential rains, officials said Thursday. The Indian weather service said Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani was expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon in Odisha state and barrel northeast on a pathway close to the homes of more than 100 million people. A state relief department official told AFP that 780,000 people were moved to safer places overnight from at least 13 districts of Odisha, home to some 46 million people, which will bear the brunt of the weather system. "We are expecting more than a million people to move out of the danger zone in next 12 hours," Bishnupada Sethi, Odisha Special Relief Commissioner, told AFP. Indian fishermen pull a boat to higher ground on a beach in Puri, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, May 2, 2019, as Cyclone Fani approached the coastline. Getty Some 3,000 shelters in schools and government buildings have been set up to accommodate more than a million people. More than 100,000 dry food packets are ready to be dropped if needed, reports said. On Thursday the storm, which reports said would be the biggest to hit eastern India in nearly two decades, was brewing in the Bay of Bengal about 155 miles offshore and moving slowly but ominously to the west. CBS News contributing meteorologist Jeff Berardelli says Bay of Bengal cyclones can be the deadliest on the planet because the region is so low-lying, exposing densely-populated coastal areas to extreme storm surges. He notes that there is also hilly terrain in the region, so mudslides are common. Berardelli says cyclones in the area would often kill hundreds of thousands of people in years gone by, but better warning and evacuation systems implemented in the last two decades have cut down dramatically on deaths. Clouds loom ahead of cyclone Fani in Visakhapatnam, India, May 1, 2019. Reuters The cyclone was expected to pack sustained wind speeds of up to 118 miles per hour, with gusts up to 125 mph -- equivalent in strength to a Category 3 to 4 hurricane. Fani was expected to make landfall near the Hindu holy town of Puri, a major tourist hotspot attracting millions of Indian and foreign visitors every year. More than 100 trains were cancelled in in the two days before Thursday, according to a statement by Indian Railways. Three special trains were running from Puri to evacuate pilgrims and tourists. Authorities have asked tourists to leave coastal areas and avoid unnecessary travel. Special buses were deployed in Puri and other towns to get them out. Dozens of officials were making announcements on hand-held megaphones across the coastal belt asking residents to leave their homes for safety. The Indian Navy was also put on alert. "Our men are urging people to move to safer places and government has set up sufficient shelters to take in those evacuating their homes," said Sethi, the emergency coordinator. "Heavy rains are expected in all the coastal districts amid fears of flash floods. We are all geared up for the challenge." Forecasters have predicted "heavy to very heavy" rain on Friday in some places and "extremely heavy" rain the next day, with some areas inundated by up to 8 inches of water. Tides could also surge up to five feet. India's weather office has warned that the high speed winds can uproot trees, flatten crops and damage homes, power and communication infrastructure. The neighboring coastal states of Andhra Pradesh, home to 50 million people, and Tamil Nadu, population some 70 million, have also been put on high alert. Fani will be the fourth such storm to hit India's east coast in three decades. Major weather systems regularly affect eastern and southeast India between April and December.