Introduction:
The Year 2011 ended in a very sad note for the people who are living along the interior and
coastal revenue districts of Puducherry, Cuddalore and Villupuram Districts in the Rotary
District 2980 situated in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry State by the super cyclone!
Cyclone “Thane” hit the coast of Tamil Nadu on 30th December 2011 making landfall
between Puducherry and Cuddalore that has resulted in the death of 42 people. The cyclone
with a gale wind speed of 150 kms per hour and tidal waves reaching up to 19 feet heights
turned out to be a major disaster, devastating and destructing 6 coastal districts in
Tamilnadu and Pondicherry. The government of India has declared it as a National Disaster.
The devilish cyclone caused unimaginable and irreparable damage to the people and their
properties over night. The agricultural inland communities were put into total destruction by
losing their chief livelihood means such as valuable food crops and trees like coconut
groves, mango trees, cashews, paddy, sugarcane, groundnut, plantain, jackfruit etc. and
coastal communities losing their boats and nets. The road networks, communication
networks, electricity and water supply pipelines etc were also severely damaged. Thousands
of villages were marooned by flood. Hundreds of thousands of shelters of the poor and
vulnerable communities were washed away by flood and merciless wind.
A brief summary of damages caused by the cyclone:
No of State / Union territory hit by the cyclone
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02 (Tamilnadu & Puducherry)
No of Districts affected by the cyclone
-
06
No of Revenue Districts severely affected
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03 (Puducherry, Cuddalore & Villupuram)
No of Villages / Hamlets worst affected
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2,153
No of Households / Families affected
-
1,402,112
Total No. of shelters / houses damaged
-
459,082
Reported and confirmed death toll
-
42
Livestock lost
-
10000 numbers
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Damages in Cuddalore District:
Paddy - 58,000 Hectares
Cashew – 23,500 Hectares
Jackfruit - 5572 Hectares
Banana and pulses – 8947 Hectares
The above damage assessment is only an initial assessment. However, the full damage assessment is
yet to be received. This assessment clearly predicts that the agricultural scenario has been pushed
back to 50 years and it may take minimum 10 years to regain its full strength.
OUR APPEAL:
In this situation, we appeal to all Rotary Clubs to extend possible help to the Rotary Clubs in the
affected area in turn those clubs will reach the affected people and help them.
For further communication, please contact DG Asoka whose email ID is nasoka@rediffmail.com.
Sincerely
N.Asoka
District Governor
RID 2980, Tamilnadu, India
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Attached please find photographs of the damage caused by the Cyclone
THE FURY OF THANE CYCLONE!!!
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Houses and Properties Damages:
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Agricultural crops and Fishing materials damages:
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