Sphere Unified Response Strategy

SITUATION REPORT NO. 1 15th April 2010

PART 1: SITUATION REPORT:

BIHAR:

The tornado, packing winds between 80 and 125 kmph, ripped through more than one lakh houses in ’s , , and Kishanganj districts. "From the extent of twisted trees and poles, the depth of thundercloud and volume of devastation, it appears to be a tornado," said G C Debnath, Director, Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore. "The casualties were high because the storm struck when people had retired for the night and were caught unawares."

Purnea District: According to the Government Report, 39 people died in Purnea. A compensation of Rs. 1.5 lakh was given to 14 affected families and the rest will be covered by tomorrow. There are reports of huge loss of houses. So far, no relief material is distributed by the government. Affected people have moved to temporary shelters in the village schools. The worst affected blocks include Amor and Baisi.

Supaul District: The worst affected blocks include, Sarai Garh, Nirmaili,Maurana and Kishanpur. Moderately affected blocks include Chattarpur, Treveniganj and Supul. According to the government records, there were two deaths reported in Sarai Garh and one death in Maurauna. A compensation of Rs. 50,000 was released to the deceased families. Around 1000 houses were reported to be damaged.

Human Loss:

S.No. Name of the District Human Loss 1 Purnea 39 2 Araria 33 3 Katihar 07 4 Kishanganj 01 5 01 Total 81

WEST :

A tornado struck parts of , West Bengal, (about 400 kms north of ), at about 00.00 hours on the night of 14, April 2010. The tornado came without a warning, except for the silent lull experienced by the people. After 11.00 at night on 13 April, suddenly the sky darkened, the clouds thickened and the winds started blowing from North‐Western direction.

The wind speed that is said to have reached a velocity of over 75 km/per hour ravaged through mainly the blocks of , , Kaliyaganj and , leaving at least 38 persons dead, including two children (as of 14 April 2010, 18.00 hours) and damaged over 20,000 houses have been fully damaged. Another 25,000 houses are reportedly, partly damaged. There are about 120 injured persons admitted in various hospitals, including the district hospital at Raiganj.The standing crops like maize and boro crop of paddy have also been seriously affected.

Impact on infrastructure is heavy. There are reports that at least some schools and rural health centers have been damaged. Thousands of trees have been uprooted, and this led to several accidents, two of them fatal. Electrical poles, cables and transformers have been totally damaged or uprooted, leaving Raiganj and Kaliyaganj towns, and other villages in dark. The telecommunication systems are also damaged, specially the landlines. Water supply in municipalities was affected due to the power shortage.

PART 2: RESPONSE OF DIFFERENT AGENCIES:

IAG BIHAR:

An emergency meeting was facilitated by IAG Bihar on April 15, 2010, at Save the Children office. Thirteen representatives from UNICEF, EFICOR, Action Aid, CARE India, PCI, Save the Children, MSF, Plan India, GDEM and CRS participated in the meeting.

Key Outcomes:

• Every INGO having presence in the district headquarters affected by the storm should have interface with the local government and Disaster Management Cell and collect and collate information on government response and damages as per government records. The feedback of the agencies to be sent to IAG Bihar by 3 p.m., today. • Agencies present in the affected districts will develop a detailed situation report and the will report to the Bihar IAG by 5 p.m., today. • ODRC will develop a SITREP for Supaul district, Save the Children for , CRS for and UNICEF for . • Based on the SITREP by the four agencies, the need for a field visit will be decided by April 15, 2010 evening.

IAG WEST BENGAL:

• April 14 : An IAG Assessment Team was formed. • April 15 : Nine member team representing seven agencies ((CARE India, Oxfam, Childline, UNICEF, ABCD, Caritas India & World Vision) will travel to Raiganj and Uttar Dinajpur.

• April 16‐17: The Team will undertake an inter‐agency multi sectoral assessment of the situation, to identify the needs of the affected communities and key advocacy issues. • On April 19: The final draft of the report with recommendations will be developed and circulated.

IMPORTANT CONTACTS

IAGS:

NAME DESIGNATION CONTACT DETAILS EMAIL ID SANJAY PANDEY CONVENER, IAG BIHAR +91- 9835263772 [email protected] FR. PUTHUMAI COORDINATOR, IAG WEST BENGAL +91- 9434753999 [email protected]

SPHERE INDIA:

NAME DESIGNATION CONTACT DETAILS EMAIL ID VIKAS GORA FOCAL POINT URS +91- 9958699913 [email protected] VIREN FALCAO SPHERE COORDINATOR, NEW DELHI +91- 9999855762 [email protected]