With better preparedness and efficient planning and execution, toll restricted to a low level

The hours preceding the strike of cyclone Phailin, the strongest storm to hit India since 1999, saw the country undertaking the largest evacuation operation in its history. Before the landfall of the giant tropical storm, the Odisha administration had, on Saturday, shifted nearly 900,000 people to safer places - a sign that India was better prepared for a disaster this time than on any earlier occasion.

Cyclone Phailin with a wind speed of 220km per hour is turning into a super cyclone before making landfall on Saturday evening near Gopalpur in Odisha where the government has galvanized its machin

The severe cyclonic storm Phailin over east central Bay of Bengal on Friday further intensified and is all set to make a landfall close to Gopalpur in Odisha at a wind speed of at least 205 kmph to

Cyclone Phailin with a windspeed of 220 kmph is turning into a super cyclone before making landfall on Thursday evening near Gopalpur in Odisha where the government has galvanised its machinery to

It is expected to cross coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip by Saturday

The authorities in 23 cyclone-prone districts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are bracing themselves to tackle any exigency as a cyclonic storm intensified in the Bay of Bengal on Thursday and is expected to cross the coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip (close to Gopalpur) by Saturday evening.

Hyderabad: Districts along the Bay of Bengal coast began gearing up for Cyclone Phailin, which is expected to make landfall on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

Officials and staff have been put on high alert and the state government has drawn up an action plan. It includes, when the cyclone is 500 km from the coast: Total suspension of fishing operations, evacuation from coastal areas, regulation of rail and road traffic.

Flag Number 2 has been hoisted at both ports

Cyclone Phailin is likely to cross Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast on October 12 but Puducherry and Cuddalore administrations, the two coastal areas that have borne the brunt of cyclonic storms in the past, have sounded a cyclone warning, unwilling to take any risks.

Bhubaneswar, Oct 10: