The Role of Media in Pre-cyclone Preparedness and Post-cyclone Recovery in South Odisha: An Exploratory Study

In 2013, when India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced the arrival of super cyclone Phailin that was to make its landfall at Gopalpur, Southern Odisha, the state began preparations with the target of achieving zero casualties. Since the alert was given well ahead of time, it perhaps helped save many lives since the state government took immediate steps to evacuate and make necessary arrangements to scale down the magnitude of the damage caused by the super cyclone. Approximately 900,000 residents were evacuated to shelters in schools, colleges, universities and government offices. Authorities also moved food, water and medicines close to the affected areas before the storm. Phailin being the strongest tropical storm to hit Odisha in more than a decade, such preparedness immensely contributed in bringing down the number of casualties in 2013 as compared to that of the last super cyclone which hit coastal Odisha in 1999, leaving 10,000 people dead and causing huge loss to property. After the super cyclone Phailin, the author conducted a post-disaster study to find out how the natural disaster affected the residents who were directly impacted. The survey was then reviewed to determine the usefulness and role of media during such an event. The author also studied the media’s role in helping the residents in pre-disaster preparedness and post-disaster recovery, which perhaps helped reduce the devastation and destruction that cyclone Phailin could have otherwise caused. Odisha in the past has faced severe cyclones time and again that caused huge loss to life and property. Loss of life during Phailin in 2013 was contained to a single digit figure for which the Odisha administration earned praise throughout the world. The author also stresses upon the importance of establishing an effective relationship between government and non-government disaster mitigation groups and the scientific community with the media to increase the ability to reduce risk during such disasters.