As cyclone Phailin subsides, 18 fishermen trapped in trawler return to safety

Eighteen 18 fishermen, who were trapped in a trawler near Paradip ahead of Cyclone Phailin, have returned safely on Sunday.

As cyclone Phailin weakened on Sunday morning, 18 fishermen trapped in a trawler near Paradip port returned safely.

The men reportedly jumped from the trawler and swam to safety at Ersama in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha.

They had been trapped around 4km from Paradip, before the cyclonic storm made landfall at the port town of Gopalpur around 9pm on Saturday.

Though the fishermen had contacted the coast guard, rescue operations could not be conducted on Saturday as the sea was extremely rough.

In Andhra Pradesh, state disaster management commissioner T Radha said 19.8cm rainfall had been recorded at Itchapuram, 15.42cm at Kaviti, 14.76cm at Kanchali, 10.8cm at Kothabommali and 10.7cm at Sompeta in Srikakulam district, which has borne the brunt of the cyclone.

“The sky is clear. We are cutting uprooted trees to clear traffic. Everything is normal and peaceful,” Radha said.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the situation with chief secretary PK Mohanty on Sunday morning and asked the administration to focus on speedy rescue and relief measures, particularly in Srikakulam district.

The NDRF teams, tasked with minimising the loss on all fronts, intensified their operations since morning while the Indian Navy has also been put on alert.

“We started rescue operations from 6am as the weather relented a bit. We have received reports the 110 people stranded in two locations, where our teams are on their way to rescue them,” he said.

As a precautionary measure, power supply to some parts of the district was stopped as many electrical poles in those areas collapsed.