From the BBC: *****************************************************************

news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_502000/502561.stm

World: South Asia

Anger boils over in cyclone zone

Villagers take refuge from the rising waters

Efforts to deliver aid to India's cyclone-ravaged state of Orissa are being stepped up, as violence breaks out in areas where storm victims have gone four days without food. A helicopter carrying the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, was mobbed by angry people demanding food and water in the badly-damaged port city of Paradip.Mr Fernandes was quoted as saying the area was in complete chaos. With food riots breaking out and millions still cut off, the Indian press is widely critical of the country's central and state governments.

Food drops Weather conditions have improved enough to allow the Indian army to fly food and other supplies into areas between the coast and the state capital, Bhubaneshwar, cut off since the storm hit on Friday. A BBC correspondent in the area says Bhubaneshwar itself is now a city of debris: shanty dwellings have been flattened, many roads are blocked and there is no electricity. Military helicopters dropped food packets to millions of people stranded in villages partially submerged by flood waters, as soldiers worked around the clock to restore road and rail links. There have been frequent thefts of petrol and kerosene in Bhubaneshwar, by people who have spent hours queuing to receive limited rations. There are also reports of people stopping food trucks and looting them.

Communications 'breakdown' An editorial in the Hindustan Times said: "What is unpardonable is that it was not something which could have caught the authorities by surprise, like an earthquake." The Times of India said: "The enormous loss of lives is a direct result of the constraining socio-economic circumstances which obtain in India," arguing that rescue and relief operations had been severely hampered by a lack of logistical co-ordination and poor communications. "Such lacunae will continue to cost India dearly in dealing with disasters against which our only defence, so far, seems to be fatalistic resignation," the Times said. The Indian Express also highlighted the total breakdown of all communication with and within Orissa as a result of the storm. "What was particularly tragic was that the state practically fell off the national map, with every modern communication having failed it in its hour of crisis," the Express said.

Death toll

Some 200 bodies have so far been recovered, but the final figure is likely to be far higher. "The death toll can reach anything between 3,000 and 5,000 as many villages in the coastal area have been washed away by tidal waves as high as 40ft (12 metres)," a senior government official told the United News of India.

"It is still not possible to assess the quantum of damage caused by the super cyclone," Indian Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani said after flying over the affected areas. "The intensity of this year's cyclone is unprecedented." The region's top administrator, AK Baishnab, told reporters that virtually every house had been flattened and submerged under water. "The people were protesting against total lack of relief supplies, drinking water and medicines in the port city," The Hindu newspaper said. International aid In Geneva, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched an appeal on Monday for $2.5m to aid the cyclone victims. "Catastrophe specialists from New Delhi and Dhaka are already on site with the Indian Red Cross Society to evaluate needs," a statement said, citing regional federation chief Geoffrey Dennis. "So far, we have seen thousands of families in desperate need of shelter, blankets, food and medicines." Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee earlier declared the tragedy a "national calamity" and announced a Rs3bn ($69m) rescue package. The money is in addition to a previously announced Rs2.5bn ($57m) package to tackle damage caused by another cyclone earlier in October.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), November 02, 1999

Answers

"The Indian Express also highlighted the total breakdown of all communication with and within Orissa as a result of the storm. "What was particularly tragic was that the state practically fell off the national map, with every modern communication having failed it in its hour of crisis," the Express said."

*Wow*.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), November 02, 1999.

Was that a 1 day storm or a 3 day storm...---...

-- Les (yoyo@tolate.com), November 02, 1999.

See also:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/

http://www.timesofindia.com/

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 02, 1999.

Thanks for the links, Old Git, but I could have done without the photos! Just ate lunch, you know.

I've been really worried about this India thing because there has been absolutely no news at all until just the past couple of days. I understand the news media was unable to get near the areas hit. Really frightening stuff.

Jeannie

-- jhollander (hollander@ij.net), November 03, 1999.