india

Updated: May 04, 2019 13:00 IST

New Delhi: A day after Cyclone Fani battered the Odisha coastline and hit gangetic West Bengal with a wind speed of 185 kmph, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Odisha governor Professor Ganeshi Lal on the devastation in the state due to the severe cyclonic storm.

The prime minister assured all possible help from the Centre for the people of coastal Odisha. He also praised their exemplary courage in dealing with nature’s fury.

“Day after tomorrow, I will be visiting Odisha to take stock of the situation arising in the wake of Cyclone Fani,” PM Modi tweeted on Saturday morning.

With the cyclone moving on to West Bengal, the prime minister also spoke to Keshari Nath Tripathi, the governor of West Bengal and reiterated the Centre’s willingness to provide all possible help needed to cope with the damage caused by the cyclone.

“Also conveyed my solidarity with the people of Bengal in the wake of Cyclone Fani,” PM Modi said in a separate tweet.

In Odisha, at least eight people were killed when the extremely severe cyclonic storm pummeled the state on May 3, uprooting trees and causing extensive damage.

A number of districts of West Bengal, including East and West Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, besides Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram and the Sundarbans were hit by the storm. State capital Kolkata too was lashed by very heavy rain from about 9 am on Friday morning.