Cyclone Phailin - a story of lessons learned

In 1999 Odisha cyclone, a strong tropical cyclone hit the coastal region of Orissa (India) with
a peak wind speed of 155 mph (250 km/h). It caused the deaths of about 50,000
people(unofficial), and heavy to extreme damage in its path of destruction.

14 years later, Cyclone Phailin hit Orissa again and the history was set to repeat itself, but
could not. Where over 50,000(unofficial) lives were lost in 1999, this time the disaster
management agencies along with state and local administration made efforts to limit it to just
23.

In the first week of October 2013, it all started as a tropical depression in Gulf of Thailand
which moved towards Andaman Sea where it was named Phailin on October 9, there after it
developed into a cyclonic storm. The Severe Cyclonic Storm Phailin was anticipated to have
its landfall on 12th October evening in the coastal district of Gopalpur in Orissa. The super
clyclone did reach the coastal region with all its fury. It damaged property, infrastructure
inlcuding roads, electricity distribution system, telecom towers etc but human lives were
spared.

Preparedness of Orrisa State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA)
"In the aftermath of the super cyclone of 1999 that ravaged the coastal Orissa OSDMA has
constructed 97 Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters in 6 coastal districts. 37 have been
constructed under World Bank assistance and60 have been constructed out of Chief
Ministers Relief Fund. 41 more are under construction out of Prime Ministers National
Relief Fund. Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa Branch has also constructed 65 Multipurpose
Cyclone Shelters. Thus 203 cyclone shelters are in place in various vulnerable locations in
six coastal districts of the State"

The locations were identified through a scientific survey conducted by Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Kharagpur with two major postulates i.e. No person will have to travel more than
2.25 km to get a safe shelter and without crossing a natural Barrier. The building is designed to
withstand wind speed up to 300 kmph and moderate earthquakes. Its plinth is above High Flood line
(HFL) and standing on a stilted floor, it can remain unaffected in storm surge up to the 1
st
floor level.
Community members have been trained in Search & Rescue and First aid techniques and all
types of equipment have been supplied to the shelters. Basic Training on Shelter Management has
been given to the CSMMC members of all cyclone shelters and 50 volunteers of shelter based
Disaster Management Teams, per shelter have been given training on First Aid and Search & Rescue
techniques (25 volunteers in each category per shelter) in collaboration with St John Ambulance and
Civil Defense Organization respectively.
Each cyclone shelter has been provided with 32 types of sophisticated equipment required for
disaster management including power saw, siren, free kitchen utensils, flexi water tank, solar light,
stretcher, life buoy and life jacket, inflatable tower light, generator, and, etc., To review preparedness
and to practice the skills learnt, mock drills are being organized in collaboration with National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA) in all cyclone shelters on 19
th
June every year.

Geographic Information System (GIS) for disaster management
In the last decade or so there has been considerable mapping and GIS work which has been
carried out by the respective agencies mandated to create GIS. According to the Orissa
Disastre Management Authority website, its mandate reads - "The prime objectives of
developing the GIS database are to help disaster managers at State, District and Block level
for: Pre-disaster planning and preparedness, Prediction and early warning and Damage
assessment and relief management"
National Remote Sensing Centre, NRSC, has been providing updates on its website and also
the status of the cyclone through the various satellites used to track the cyclone trail. The
latest image posted on their website shows the comparitive status pre and post cyclone

What the preparation lead to?
Over 5,50,000 people were evacuated from the areas vulnerable to severe cyclone and moved
to places where the could be saved. The Flood and Cyclone Shelters, which were repaired
and rebuilt after the super cyclone calamity of 1999, with the assistance from World Bank
and Chief Ministers Relief Fund were put into use in timely manner. Most of the evacuation
work was carried out in about two days time frame, with adequate logistical arrangements
made for the relief centres to support the evacuees for few days, before they could return
back to their home.
According to news covered in Telegraph India in 2011 - "The Orissa Space Applications
Centre (OSAC) has been able to create a space-based natural resource atlas of Orissa. ISRO
has provided new techniques of acquiring high-resolution space-based data. The new
technique known as SIS-DP (Space-based information support for decentralised planning) is
now able to create large scale geographical information system (GIS) data on land cover,
settlements, soil, slope, water sources, road net work, public utilities, communication
network, health care and so on."

"Today, 11 Indian remote sensing satellites in service, the National Remote Sensing Centre in
Hyderabad is able to provide data that helps agencies forecast cyclones more than 72 hours
in advance and evacuate people."(Times of India)

The impact of cyclone Phailin has affected large parts of India deep inside from the coastal
regions in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh, which
saw heavy rainfall and thunderstorm damaging the crops and upsetting the daily life of
millions of people.