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On the morning of October 29, 1999, a cyclone of unprecedented force struck the coast of Orissa, in northeastern India on the Bay of Bengal. Winds of between 155 and 161 miles an hour, heavy rains and waves between 13 and 20 feet high accompanied the storm. Officials in New Delhi were reported as saying that the cyclone rated a seven on an eight-point scale. Orissa is home to 30 million people, roughly the same population as the U.S. state of California.
This storm struck just 10 days after another cyclone hit Orissa on the evening of October 17. The first storm -- severe in its own right with winds of 124 miles an hour and gusting -- ripped across the Gopalpur coast, devastating the district of Ganjam, which was the eye of the storm.
A cyclone is a windstorm with a violent whirling movement similar to a tornado or hurricane.
The Damage:
The disaster has claimed nearly 10,000 lives and affected some 15 million people. The hardest hit districts - Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Baleshwar, Bhadrak and Ganjam - experienced widespread flooding and destruction. Access to some inland villages remains limited.
Peter McAllister, assistant country director for CARE India, remarked, "Amidst this devastation, the most heart-rending sight for me was that of the families who have lost everything. Their houses have been blown apart, their possessions scattered, their meager crops and food devoured by the winds and floods."
The entire coast, which comprises the rice and vegetable belt of the state, has suffered large-scale crop loss with damage estimates exceeding $20 million. Some predict the fields, saturated with salt water, won't be able to support rice crops for several years.
In the absence of a clean water supply, people are being forced to drink water contaminated by decaying bodies and livestock. Reports of diseases such as diarrhea, gastro-enteritis, typhoid, hepatitis and insect borne illnesses are on the rise. According to the government of Orissa, the number of reported cases of diarrhea has jumped from nearly 5,000 in early November, to more than 80,000 at the end of the month.
Infrastructures such as health centers and anganwadi (daycare) centers have suffered severe damage, leading to a near breakdown of the health and child care system. Moreover, reports indicate that 95 percent of district schools were destroyed, leaving 3 million children without their schools and related materials.
An estimated 3 million homes were leveled by the cyclones, leaving about 7.5 million people homeless.
The Response:
The first humanitarian organization to reach affected populations with relief supplies, CARE so far has committed more than $4.5 million worth of food aid and $2.5 million for shelter and other assistance. CARE has reached more than 1 million people with food aid and nearly 250,000 people with plastic sheeting for shelter.
Relief is being provided in the affected districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Bhadrak. The most vulnerable families are being equipped with "survival kits" containing plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, sleeping mats, clothing, cooking supplies, candles and soap.
To meet immediate health care needs, CARE also is issuing "medical kits" to community health centers which are without medicines and basic medical supplies following the flooding. Included in the kits are water-purification tablets, dietary supplements for expectant mothers, oral rehydration solution (ORS), antibiotics, disinfectants and bandages. Educational materials, inserted in the kits, explain how to purify drinking water, properly feed infants and prevent dehydration using ORS. The materials also explain how to prevent water and sanitation related diseases, such as diarrhea, gastroenteritis and dysentery.
CARE has deployed staff from its offices in the adjacent Indian coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal and the inland state of Uttar Pradesh to help oversee the delivery of supplies. In the longer-term, CARE will help people re-establish their livelihoods, construct cyclone-resistant schools and community centers and rebuild their homes and basic infrastructure. CARE also will coordinate food-for-work programs.
These rehabilitation efforts will focus on the hard-hit districts of Cuttack (the Niali and Kentapada blocks, or counties), Kendrapara (the Mahakalparha, Patamundai and Rajnagar blocks) and Puri (the Astaranga, Gop and Kakatpur blocks). CARE also will provide assistance to the worst-hit district of Jagatsinghpur (specifically the Balikuda, Ersama and Kujang blocks) where more than 8,000 people are estimated to have died in the October 29 cyclone.
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