Millions of people have lost their homes, livelihoods and foodgrain stocks in the lashing wind and non-stop rain that deluged coastal Orissa, in eastern India, last month. But this area has seen recurrent droughts, gradual impoverishment and starvation deaths, for a century.

It could take months, even years, for the survivors to put their lives together in a state which is synonymous with ”hunger deaths” in the mineral-rich but terribly poor hunger belt of Bolangir, Koraput and Kalahandi.

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Termed as one of the most devastating human disasters ever experienced, Orissa has been completely shattered by the worst-ever cyclones of the present century. Little did the people in the coast know that the frenzied storm would bring their lives to an absolute halt at once.

On the early hours of the 29th October, Black Friday, as it will always be known from now, massive and merciless cyclonic storm hit the coastal belt of Orissa killing thousands and displacing millions as if settling a long standing score with the hapless creatures of the coast. Wind blew at an unbelievable velocity of 250-260 km per hour and the turbulent sea rising upto 5-8 meters high with accompanying continuous rain has swept lakhs of houses out of existence.

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Executive Summary

On 17-18 October 1999, 5 districts of the State of Orissa in India were hit by a cyclone, and on 29 October another, exceptionally strong cyclone (“supercyclone”) devastated a large portion of the State. This second cyclone caused severe damage in 14 of the 30 districts of Orissa (5 being hit for the second time (See map 1). It is estimated that up to 15 million people (more than 2 million households) are seriously affected by the cyclone one way or another. The official number of deaths is reported to be nearly 10,000 and many more are feared to have died.

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