India cyclone: half a million flee, some choose to stay

Heavy rain and large waves are already pounding the north-eastern coast of India as the nation waits for a cyclone – half the size of the country – to hit.

The eye of Cyclone Phailin is expected to break land at 6pm local time, afternoon UK time, bringing 260km per hour winds (161mph) to the coast of Andhra Pradesh.

But high winds at the edge of the cyclone are already damaging property and lashing up waves on the coast. Trees have been uprooted and power lines have fallen over according to The Hindu newspaper.

Just under half a million coastal-dwellers in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal have been evacuated inland to higher locations. Cattle have also been part of the exodus inland.

The 440,000 cyclone refugees have been moved to schools or cyclone centres by 2000 army forces specialised in disaster response.

Fishermen planning to sit out the cyclone

Many coast-dwellers had to be forcibly evacuated as they were unwilling to leave their homes. Others have decided to stay. In a fisherman’s village near Puri, the Hindu interviewed a man determined to stay in his plastic-roofed house 100m away from the coast.

“Where would we go? Does the administration have capacity to accommodate 50,000 people? Most of the residents from Penthakata have remained inside their houses. We will brave the cyclone,” said Mr Dhimulu.

Fishermen attempted to secure their boats by tying them to their houses, telling the paper that they had survived other surges from the sea.

Fears that crops would be destroyed have caused the panic buying of food in shops in the state. Officials have been stockpiling emergency food supplies.