Christian
Aid Mission is working with Indian ministries in the Odisha region to
bring emergency relief to coastal areas hit hard by the weekend’s
massive cyclone.
Cyclone
Phailin made landfall Saturday as a Category 4 storm, with sustained
winds exceeding 130 miles per hour. Although loss of life was minimal
due to large-scale evacuations, flooding has inundated homes and
destroyed 1.2 million acres of crops.
A
ministry based in Balasore sent two work teams out to several locations
Monday, seeking to assess the extent of the damage within the district.
The local government has set up rescue and relief operations on the
campus of the ministry’s Bible training facility.
“There
is no electricity and no internet connection in the city. The damage is
so huge that perhaps it will take more than two weeks to restore
power,” said Pastor Hrudaya, the leader of the ministry.
He
reported that the national highway was still covered by three feet of
water, and some areas in the city were experiencing water levels above
five feet.
On
Tuesday the ministry plans to send three teams out for preliminary
survey work in the districts of Remuna, Bhadrak, Nayagarh, and Ganjam.
“We will keep you informed of day-to-day operations. As of today people need food, water, and medicine,” Hrudaya said.
At
least 873,000 people in the eastern state of Odisha and 100,000 in
neighboring Andhra Pradesh sought safety in evacuation centers, some of
which were built after a 1999 storm killed over 9,000 people in the
area. Most residents heeded the warnings to leave coastal areas. As of
Tuesday, there are only 21 confirmed deaths.
Evacuated
families will be returning to their communities as soon as floodwaters
recede. They will likely find little to salvage, particularly in poor
farming villages along the coast where the storm wreaked the most havoc.
“The
government will do what it can, but it doesn’t have all the systems in
place to offer much help. They don’t have a FEMA. The communities will
have to pull together,” said Sarla Mahara, the South Asia director for
Christian Aid.
“The
need is great, and Christian Aid can help meet those needs quickly
because we work directly with the ministries rather than having to go
through the government,” she said. “There’s no red tape, and no need for
us to send someone from our staff. The ministry workers are right there
to respond immediately.”
The
first objective is to provide food packages ($50) to displaced
families. Funds for tarps to build temporary shelters for displaced
families and assistance with rehabilitating damaged churches will also
be needed.
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