The eastern coast of India has had to bear the brunt of nature’s fury yet again. Cyclone Fani hit Odisha recently, and though its menace as a storm was downgraded from “extremely severe” to “very severe” a few hours after it made landfall, it has left a trail of destruction that should make us revisit what we mean by “preparedness”.

Body:

Cyclones are among the most dangerous and most destructive natural disasters that can occur. They have been responsible for about 1.9 million deaths worldwide over the last two centuries, and it is estimated that 10,000 people are killed each year by these storms. Cyclones tend to do the most damage in coastal areas, where they have been known to alter the landscape and remove forest canopy. 13 coastal states and Union Territories in the country are affected by Tropical Cyclones (TCs).

Cyclones bring devastations and damages of various types:

• Life:
  • Cyclones often cause loss of life, heavy damages in built environments, and have negative effects on shipping,
  • The death toll due to cyclone Fani rose to 64 with 21 fresh deaths confirmed, nine days after the ‘extremely severe’ cyclonic storm devastated coastal Odisha.
• Property:
  • The strong winds of cyclones can cause damage over an area of 25 km in smaller systems and up to 500 km in larger systems. Winds have been known to destroy smaller buildings and knock out power for thousands of people.
• Infrastructure, Electricity and telecommunications:
  • Infrastructure facilities like ports, airports are at the highest risk of damage. The casualties include that of the electricity and telecom infrastructure too rendering the places devoid of communication.
• Fisheries and tourism:
  • Statistics show that the global average annual losses from cyclones and storm surges are estimated at US$ 80 billion.
• Temperature:
  • Tropical cyclones can quickly change the environment of the affected areas. They can bring warmer air into hot places. This makes the atmosphere feel very sticky and muggy and rises the temperature dramatically. This can cause heat strokes and other heat related illness to children and the elderly after the storm which is not good.
• Storm surge:
  • Potentially disastrous surges occur in coastal areas with low-lying terrain that enables inundation. The storm surge is typically the most damaging effect of cyclones, historically resulting in 90 percent of tropical cyclone deaths.
  • When combined with strong winds, storm surges can produce massive waves that can cause inland flooding and destruction.

Measures to be taken:

• Effective coordination between the governments at the Center and state to take up the rescue and relief work immediately.
• There is a need of harmonizing the national and local level disaster resilient bylaws, land use zoning, resource planning, early warning system establishments and technical competence.
• Restoration of the basic necessities like electricity, water supply and telecom facilities at the earliest.
• Assessment of houses damaged: as most of the affected are left homeless, they will be vulnerable to all kinds of dangers. An effective assessment of the damage can help the government to plan its efforts better.
• Construction of disaster resilient houses in cyclone prone areas must be mandated to avoid the recurrent expenditures and provide a safe shelter to the people.
• The government should take commonalities from success stories and institutionalize it. For example, Built Back Better Program of Gujarat government after 2001 earthquake.
• Disaster Risk Reduction should be an important aspect of global poverty reduction initiatives.
• Moving from a risk blind approach to a risk-informed decision when it comes to investments.
• There should be a Disaster Risk Audit for the future developmental project for both public and private entities.
• Disaster Risk Reduction program should be more people-centric.
• There is a need for private sector participation in designing and implementing policies, plans, and standards.
• Need of Disaster Management program to be inclusive including women, civil society, and academia.
• State governments should increase their engagements in scientific research institution for a better formulation of policies.

Conclusion:

Natural disaster comes without warning. India should prepare to mitigate and deflect the destruction caused by Cyclones. India needs to employ disaster resilient technology, strict following of command structure and most importantly the participation and cooperation of local communities in the affected area.