Odisha has been racing against time to evacuate citizens from Fani's path, which is expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon in Puri. Over six lakh people were already evacuated by Thursday evening and the target was to evacuate over 10 lakh, said Bishnupada Sethi, Special Relief Commissioner of Odisha. Fani is expected to move on to West Bengal at a wind speed of 60-70 kmph. It is rolling menacingly towards Odisha coast at 200 kmph, will progress to West Bengal and taper off. Parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are also likely to be affected3 special trains from PuriThree special trains pressed into service to ferry stranded passengers: Puri-Shalimar (WB); 2 from Puri to Howrah.

Source: dna May 02, 2019 23:26 UTC