India evacuates 1.2 million as Cyclone Fani pounds eastern coast

Indian first responders prepare to clean up a cyclone
(Image credit: DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Cyclone Fani made landfall in India's eastern Bay of Bangal on Friday morning as an "extremely severe" grade 5 storm, the India Meteorological Department said. Grade 5 is the second-highest rating, equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane, and wind gusts of up to 127 mile per hour were recorded in Odisha state, where the cyclone came ashore in the beach resort city Puri. Authorities evacuated an unprecedented 1.2 million people from low-lying areas of Odisha, moving them to about 4,000 shelters further inland, India's National Disaster Response Force said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.