Cyclone Dana hit the east coast of Odisha, triggering heavy rain and high-speed winds, uprooting trees and electric poles. It caused serious damage to infrastructure and crops in many districts.

As Dana entered a deep depression and moved westward, authorities launched extensive relief and rehabilitation efforts in the storm-affected areas, according to the PTI report. According to the report, Odisha Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari announced that damage assessment works will start on Saturday and will be completed within seven days, stating that all major road blockages caused by fallen trees have been cleared and communication has been restored.

Pujari said “pucca houses will be provided” to those who lost their homes and around 6 lakh people have been evacuated to safety.

According to Odisha TV, Bhitarkanika, Rajnagar, Bagapatia and Jambu in Kendrapara district and Dhamra, Chandbali and Basudevpur in Bhadrak district were the worst affected by the cyclonic storm as it approached landfall.

There was a power outage in many places because electric poles were damaged. According to PTI, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, who is also in-charge of the power department, said that around 95 per cent of the affected 33 KV feeders have already been restored, while the rest are expected to become operational soon. He emphasized that the restoration of the 11 KV network up to the Distribution Transformer level is progressing well.

Many fishing boats were damaged due to the storm and tide in the sea in Soro area of ​​Balasore district. Many low-lying areas were flooded. Approximately 2 thousand people from 500 families were stranded due to waterlogging in the Bagapatia area of ​​Kendrapara district.

On Friday, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced that the state had achieved the ‘Zero Casualties Mission’ with no reports of deaths or injuries. He said the evacuation of around 6 lakh people was successful and emphasized the importance of proactive measures taken before the occurrence of the cyclone.

Acres of Crop Damaged

The cyclonic storm and rain damaged standing crops in 1.75 lakh acres of land and inundated another 2.80 lakh acres in Odisha, a senior official told PTI on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates.

According to the report, the state government has directed a joint assessment by the ministries of agriculture and revenue on crop loss due to the cyclone.

“As per preliminary reports, crop area likely to be affected by #CycloneDana is around 1,75,000 acres (69,995 ha). Eye estimated sunken crop area is around 2,80,000 acres (1,12,310 ha),” Principal Secretary Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Arabinda Padhi , in a post on X said:

“We have directed @Krushibibhag field officials to assess and enumerate crop loss (more than 33% and above) in a team approach under the supervision of District Collectors along with their Revenue Department counterparts,” he said.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, in the review meeting held on Friday night, said that the final estimate of the loss in the agricultural sector will be known from the detailed report and the government will decide on compensation to farmers based on it.