A Million People Saved From Cyclone: New York Times
Weather forecasters pinpointed Cyclone Fani bearing down on the crowded coast of Odisha, and governments in India and Bangladesh responded quickly, reports a team of journalists from the New York Times. In Odisha, where the average income is less than $5 per day, disaster crews used lists of vulnerable people, warning them to head to shelters: “To warn people of what was coming, they deployed everything they had: 2.6 million text messages, 43,000 volunteers, nearly 1,000 emergency workers, television commercials, coastal sirens, buses, police officers, and public address systems blaring the same message on a loop.” Fani left immense damage with 12 deaths reported so far, and experts describe moving more than a million people as “a remarkable achievement, especially in a poor state in a developing country, the product of a meticulous evacuation plan.” Organizers suggest the achievement was the result of commitment and meticulous planning over the course of 20 years, construction of inland cement-block shelters. One officer said each disaster offers lessons. The careful preparation saved lives, though many people return home to ruined homes and livelihoods. – YaleGlobal
A Million People Saved From Cyclone: New York Times
Odisha, poor state in India, was well prepared for disaster, and with accurate forecast of Cyclone Fani, organized mass evacuations to prevent mass casualties
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Read the article from The New York Times about Cyclone Fani and the successful evacuation of more than a million people.
Hari Kumar reported from Bhubaneswar, Jeffrey Gettleman from New Delhi and Sameer Yasir from Srinagar, Kashmir. Julfikar Ali Manik contributed reporting from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The New York Times
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