Bhubaneswar: Much feared cyclonic storm ‘DAYE’ hit the coast of Odisha near Gopalpur early Friday and caused heavy rainfall resulting in the cutting of the Malkangiri district from the rest of the state.

But the news of no loss of life due to the cyclone brought a sigh of relief as the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) claimed till the time of 12 noon.

Due to the cyclonic storm, the Malkangiri district was affected severely, the SRC said while adding that some people were left out being marooned in submerged areas, including Poteru.

The SRC said that so far, around 150 people have been rescued from some of those places in the district.

Distribution of relief materials in the affected areas was taken in an immediate manner and total damage caused by the natural calamity was being ascertained, he said.

Malkangiri Collector Manish Agarwal said that rainwater was flowing over major roads resulting in the submerging of low-lying areas in the district that saw a total rainfall of about 11.63.8 mm since Thursday.

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the situation and directed the administration of Malkangiri district to help out all the affected people and extend all kind of assistance to them, an official from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

Along with that, Mr. Patnaik also sanctioned gratuitous relief for up to seven days of Rs. 60 per day per person and Rs. 45 each for children who are below 12 years in the district, he said.

The much-anticipated cyclonic storm “DAYE” that was over the northeast Bay of Bengal crossed south of Odisha and adjoining coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Friday, H R Biswas, Director of Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar has said.

Then after that, the cyclonic system moved west-northwestward at a speed of about 26 kmph and then started weakening into a deep depression and was centered over the southern interior of Odisha and its neighborhood, which is about 65 km east-southeast of Titlagarh.

The storm made a heavy rainfall in several places after making the landfall in areas like Malkangiri, Puri, Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput districts of the state, MeT officials said.

The district of Malkangiri recorded an average rainfall of about 166.25 mm since Thursday, witnessing severe kind of waterlogging and disruption of road services in many areas of the district.

Due to the roads getting submerged with rainwater, connectivity with Jeypore, Chattisgarh and other Andhra Pradesh remained blocked, said an official.

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