The challenge
The 1999 super cyclone killed about 10,000 people in a state with weak warning and shelter systems.
The case
After the 1999 super cyclone killed nearly 10,000 people, Odisha created the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, the first state agency in India devoted only to disaster management. The state invested in cyclone shelters, evacuation routes and coastal embankments, and ran mock drills each year in coastal districts. When Cyclone Phailin struck in October 2013, the state and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh moved close to a million people to safe shelters, 850,000 of them in Odisha, in the largest pre-disaster evacuation in India's history. Forty-four deaths were reported. Damage to homes, crops and livelihoods was still very large, with 10 million people affected across 17 districts.
Why it worked
A dedicated agency with shelters, drills and clear authority to order evacuations turned accurate forecasts into action; preparation cut deaths but not economic losses.
Sources
- UNDP (2015). Preparing for Disaster: Lessons from Phailin Response. Via ReliefWeb.
- World Bank (2014). India averts devastation from Cyclone Phailin.
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