Cyclone Fani LIVE News Updates: The “extremely severe” Cyclone Fani, which made landfall in Odisha around 8 am on Friday, has weakened to “very severe” and is predicted to weaken further to a “severe storm” in the next six hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The storm battered the coast of Odisha, uprooting trees and sweeping away thatched huts and leaving large areas of the seaside pilgrim town of Puri submerged. Click to see latest Cyclone Fani photosNearly 11 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable and low-lying areas of at least 11 coastal districts while the evacuees have been accommodated in over 4,000 shelters, including 880 specially designed cyclone centres, Special Relief Commissioner B P Sethi told PTI. Other states on the eastern coast, such as West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, are also likely to be affected. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed to the people not to panic as the government is fully prepared to deal with the situation.

Source: Indian Express May 03, 2019 01:42 UTC