Terrifying Videos of Cyclone: Fani Rips Through India’s Coast, 7 Die, Millions Flee

A month after powerful Tropical Cyclone Fani slammed into India's northeastern coastline, the country faces the threat of another strong storm, this time on its west coast AP Photo

Terrifying videos of cyclone Fani ripping through India’s east coast have emerged on social media. The cyclone that touched the coast on the morning of May 3 killed seven people while millions were forced to flee their homes.

Those rescued include 600 pregnant women, reported New Delhi Television (NDTV).

The 130mph cyclone cut off the power and water supplies and tore through tree lines. It is described as a Category 3 storm, according to the India Meteorological Department, which added that it is slated to bring heavy rains.

Since the cyclone struck the coast, various terrifying videos have appeared on social media.

A 250-foot crane crashed onto a building in the coastal state of Odisha, reported NDTV. The crane installed at an under construction site couldn’t withstand the cyclone and crashed into the houses in the front.

In another video, the roof of the hostel of a leading medical institution was seen blowing away as though it was a sheet of paper.

Rescued people have been moved to 4000 shelters, according to Business Insider.

According to The Times of India, Fani is the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone that slammed India in 1999, killing more than 10,000 people.

The Indian weather agency also said that it’s the first cyclone of such severity in the area for the month of April in more than 40 years.

As a precaution, Indian Railways on Friday canceled 223 trains. “140 Mail and Express trains and 83 passenger trains have been canceled till May 4 afternoon,” a senior railway official told Indo Asian News Service.

Indian officials have mobilized the army, air force, and navy to deal with evacuating people.

Tourists were provided special trains to leave a beach town ahead of the storm, according to ABC.

India’s cyclone season generally lasts from April to December with severe storms leading to evacuations of tens of thousands, widespread deaths, and damage to crops and property, both in India and Bangladesh, Reuters noted.

Two decades ago, a super-cyclone battered the coast of Odisha for 30 hours, killing 10,000 people. In 2013, a mass evacuation of nearly 1 million people saved thousands of lives.

“I assure the affected people that the nation and the center (government at New Delhi) are with them,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an election rally in the western state of Rajasthan.

He said over $144 million has been released in advance towards the disaster.

A netizen shared a video of sea turtles returning to the sea after the cyclone. “Hundreds of turtles which come out of the sea before the cyclone are now heading towards the sea again,” Kamalakanta Sethy said in a message on Twitter.

Tropical Storm Risk cyclone tracker labeled Fani a category 3 storm on a scale of a low 1 to a powerful 5.

Fani also slammed Bangladesh, including the coastal district, where about a million Rohingya from Burma live in camps, ABC reported.

By Friday afternoon authorities had evacuated around 400,000 people and were aiming at evacuating 2.1 million by evening, CNN reported.

Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.