With the very severe cyclonic storm Yaas weakening into depression to move towards Jharkhand in midnight hours yesterday, the evacuees sheltered in the multi-purpose cyclone-resilient buildings and government facilities have embarked on homeward journey with outdoor exposure and fear of contracting COVID-19 remaining uppermost in their minds.
As the intensity of cyclonic Yaas being on lesser scale sparing major parts of the coastal and northern Odisha, the worst fear of anticipated devastation, loss of life and property did not come true. Apart from uprooting of trees, damage to thatched houses and tidal surge in specific coastal parts, the impact was not devastation much to sigh of relief to the people and State’s crisis management teams.
Ensuring COVID-19 protocol, the authorities had managed to evacuate 6.5 lakh people to the safety of shelter buildings despite initial hesitancy and reluctance of evacuees.
The evacuees in all the cyclone-hit pockets parts have begun homeward journey right from yesterday with heavy downpour and high-velocity winds subsiding.
With rain, the wind speed receding, the cyclone scare is all but gone in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur and Keonjhar districts. But for the people in Bhadrak and Balasore districts which bore the maximum brunt of the storm, unknown fear still persists with windy weather still engulfing these pockets.
“We were in no hurry. We returned home today morning after the weather became completely normal. It was safer to spend the night yesterday night at the shelter house”, remarked Sashmita Kundu, a native of Dhamara in Bhadrak district.
The safety of life remained the principal concern of one and all. People invariably in all parts of the State waited for the improved weather to return home.
“The cyclone’s impact was experienced. But it was not on a larger scale. Nature has spared us. We are lucky. But we have opted for safety by shifting to shelter buildings since yesterday afternoon. As there is no further threat of cyclone making a re-curve to our villages, we are planning to head for home”, said Pradyot Giri, a resident of seaside Kansara Badadandua village in Mahakalapada block of Kendrapara district.
As the cyclone threat no longer persists, we are leaving for home. The government agencies had done the needful providing food, masks and sanitizers to us in view of the coronavirus scare. However social distancing could not be maintained because of overcrowding, he added.