The tropical cyclone Phallin approached India late last week and endured over the weekend but little deaths were reported as India's infrastructure ensured many evacuations were made. Sunday showed the true power of the storm as Indian officials picked through the wreckage and assessed the overall damage. The storm was one of the most dangerous to hit the country in more than a decade and is now responsible for millions of dollars of damage.
Currently there are only 17 reported fatalities due to the natural disaster, officials expect it to rise as they come into contact with isolated locations, however considering the magnitude of the disaster and the material loss recorded, the fatalities are low. Over one million citizens were evacuated from the coast in advance to prepare for the storm. The article suggests that past historic events that had killed tens of thousands prompted officials to make necessary evacuations.
India, although greatly populated, has a government infrastructure that can adequately prepare for disaster by use of forecasting and early warning methods. The subjective risk in a country such as India would be that low income citizens in sub-standard housing would be vulnerable to Cyclones. However, the Indian Ocean is commonly at risk of such disasters and the people of India have prepared for them through experience, thus protecting those most vulnerable. Objectively the risk of high fatalities in such an incident is low.
http://news.yahoo.com/indian-officials-few-deaths-massive-cyclone-121209404.html
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