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- CALCUTTA -
The devastation
is so severe from the weekend "supercyclone"
in the Indian province
of Orissa that officials refuse even to
estimate how many thousands of
people are dead.
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- It is becoming evident that the
government has no supplies
or contingency planning for what is
described as the worst flood of the
century. Much of the state is a
giant lake. It's believed millions of
people are homeless.
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- Meteorologists
classified the storm -- with winds up
to 250 km/h -- as a
"supercylone," and one of the strongest in
the region this
century. For Orissa, it was the second cyclone in a month.
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- In Geneva, the
International Red Cross is appealing for
$2.65 million to bring
emergency aid to the homeless.
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- Violent mobs have ransacked homes and looted about
50,000
food packets sent by U.S. aid agencies. Helicopters were able to
drop some
food and water packets into the neediest areas Monday.
Survivors have
nothing to drink but filthy flood water. Roads to the
major city of Bogonishra
remain cut. Washed-out roads and flooded
airports mean it will be some
time before food and medical supplies
arrive.
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- Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said the government
is
treating the disaster as a national calamity. Visiting the region Monday,
India's defence minister was mobbed by crowds of people demanding food
and water.
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