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(Continued from page 46)
Wind, rain, seawater pound eastern India as immense, powerful cyclone roars toward coast
• BHUBANESHWAR, India (AP) -- Strong winds and heavy rains pounded India's eastern coastline Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of people took shelter from a massive, powerful cyclone that was expected to reach land in a few hours.
• The skies were dark -- almost black -- at midmorning in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state and about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the coast. Roaring winds made palm trees sway wildly, and to the south, seawater was pushing inland.
• By Friday evening, some 600,000 people had been moved to higher ground or shelters in Orissa, which is expected to bear the brunt of the cyclone, said Surya Narayan Patro, the state's top disaster management official.
• About 12 hours before Cyclone Phailin's expected landfall, meteorologists held out hope that it might hit while in a temporary weakened state. But no matter what, it was forecast to be large and deadly. Satellite images showed the cyclone filling nearly the entire Bay of Bengal, an area larger than France.
• "A storm this large can't peter out that fast," said Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at Weather Bell, a private U.S. weather firm. "There's nothing to stop it at this point."
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A look at devastating cyclones that have formed in the Bay of Bengal
• Cyclone Phailin is expected to cause extensive damage in eastern India, with a storm surge that will flood low-lying areas and heavy rains and strong winds that will last for hours. Here are some details on other devastating cyclones that have formed in the Bay of Bengal:
• -- May 2008: Cyclone Nargis hits Myanmar with a storm surge that washes up densely populated areas around the Irrawaddy River delta. Around 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away. Damage to public and private assets was estimated at around US$ 10 billion.
• -- October 1999: A super-cyclone sweeps through the state of Orissa in eastern India, killing at least 10,000 people and leaving an estimated 1.5 million homeless. Winds of over 250km/h (160mph) were recorded, and a devastating tidal surge drove across coastal plains.
• -- April 1991: Nearly 139,000 people died from a cyclone that hit Bangladesh (Continued on page 48)
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