India braces to cope with Hudhud

Volunteers, disaster management officials and aid workers conducted mock evacuation drills in hundreds of villages along India’s east coast on Friday as a powerful cyclone approached, threatening devastation to farmland and fishing hamlets. Cyclone Hudhud was about 470km offshore on Friday, satellite images showed, and was expected to hit land around the key port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday morning. It will also impact neighbouring Orissa, one of the eastern provinces of India. The cyclone, forecast to bring gusts of up to 155kph, could disrupt the lives of millions, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) run by the United Nations and the European Commission said. ‘Up to 7.2 million people can be affected by wind speeds of cyclone strength or above. In addition, 94,000 people are living in coastal areas below 5 metres (16 feet) and can therefore be affected by storm surge,’ the GDACS website said, according to bdnews24.com.