People in Odisha’s coastal districts, which were in the line of rampaging cyclone Dana, heaved a sigh of relief as the severe cyclonic storm has largely spared the coastal pockets as it is likely to weaken into deep depression in the next six hours after making landfall in midnight hours.

According to a statement from the office of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi on Friday, “We have achieved our target of zero casualties due to proper planning and execution”.

While there is no report of loss of life and property, tidal surge making inroads into some of the villages and agriculture fields have come to light as the fierce wind has subsided. The Bhitarkanika national park, which was home to the landfall spot, has largely been saved from the devastating aftermath of the cyclone though details from the park are yet to emerge, said an official.

Reports from Bhadrak and Balasore districts received here indicated that there was no loss of life and any extensive damage to property.

The settlement colony at Bagapatia, housing the people displaced from their native land in Satabhaya due to sea erosion, has come under watery inundation as tidal surge entered into the colony, he added.

”The severe cyclone storm made landfall in midnight hours near Habelikhati nature camp in Bhitarkanika national park as it had been forecast in advance by the IMD. With adequate precautionary measures and timely evacuation, we have successfully withstood nature’s fury with zero human casualty. The damage has been minimal with the cave-in of kutcha houses. The uprooting of standing trees in several places of coastal Rajnagar block has disrupted the road communication.

”However the road communication has largely been restored by ODRAF teams following the clearing of uprooted trees,” said Nishant Mishra, Block Development Officer of Rajnagar block in Kendrapara district.

Kendrapara and neighbouring Bhadrak were on the line of cyclonic fury. The government agencies had sounded alert well in advance evacuating people from vulnerable pockets. The cyclone, of course, impacted the district with strong velocity wind, heavy downpour, uprooting trees, damaging power infrastructures in some parts and blowing away scores of kutcha houses.

But the damage was on a considerably lower magnitude than what the disaster managers and panicky people anticipated.

“No loss of life has been reported so far. The loss of property has been minimal. We are hopeful of restoring normal life shortly”, Kendrapara Collector Smruti Ranjan Pradhan said.

The villages that bore the brunt of the cyclonic storm are Talchua, Rangani, Keruapala, Baghamari, Dangamal, Iswarpur, Gupti and Satabhaya, said an official.

“By the grace of God, we are saved from nature’s fury. The wind speed was less. Besides, we experienced heavy rain”, said Ramkant Sahu, a local in a seaside Ramnagar village in Kendrapara district.

”Cyclones are a recurring phenomenon here. We have taken nature’s fury in our stride and have withstood the ups and down of life with tenacity. Now with the worst fear over, we look forward to normal life,” said Krutibash Pradhan, a local from Rajnagar in Kendrapara district.

”Heavy rain accompanied by gusty wind caused considerable damage to the crops. Though nature has been kind towards us this time in sparing us from cyclonic devastation, damage to agriculture is on a large scale. The crop fields are flooded. Only after the rain subsides, we can assess the extent of damage,” Priyanath Pradhan, a farmer from Talchua village.

”There has been luxuriant growth of paddy and vegetable plants. The yield would have been remunerative this year if there had been no cyclone. The monetary return will be minimal to compensate for our toil in the field,” he added.