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.