he death toll in the Cyclone Fani rose to 16 in Odisha Saturday as the government mounted a massive restoration work across 10,000 villages and 52 urban areas ravaged by the storm that pounded coastal parts of the state, affecting nearly one crore people.
The extremely severe cyclonic storm, that made landfall at Puri on Friday, was one of the "rarest of the rare" summer cyclones -- the first to hit Odisha in 43 years and one of the three to hit in the last 150 years
It unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 240 kmph, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages, before weakening and entering into West Bengal, officials said.
It was the severest cyclone to hit the state since the Super Cyclone of 1999, which had claimed nearly 10,000 lives and devastated vast areas of the state.
The toll due to Cyclone Fani, which stood at eight on Friday, mounted to 16 Saturday -- four deaths in Mayurbhanj district, 3 each in Puri, Bhubaneswar and Jajpur; and 1 each in Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Kendrapara, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Odisha. He spoke to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and assured continuous support from the Centre.
"Spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Ji and discussed the situation prevailing due to Cyclone Fani. Assured continuous support from the Central Government... The entire nation stands in solidarity with all those affected by the cyclone in different parts," Modi tweeted.