Cyclone Fani: Satellite images form NASA show extent of damage to Odisha's power grid

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released images captured by its satellites of power outages in Odisha in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani. In a series of images, satellites show night lights in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack before and (two days) after Cyclone Fani made landfall and Odisha experienced the worst of its impact — on 30 April and 5 May respectively. The images are a data visualisation of regions where the lights went out across the worst-affected areas in Odisha, NASA said in a statement. They were captured by the Visible-Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite, which was one of the many orbiting satellites keeping an eye on Cyclone Fani’s progression. The VIIRS instrument has a “day-night band” that can capture light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared, including reflected moonlight, light from fires, oil wells, lightning, and emissions from cities, or human activity of other kinds. In the case of Cyclone Fani, VIIRS zeroed-in on damaged transformers and power lines in low-lying areas of Odisha. 5,030 km of 33-kV lines, 38,613 km of 11-kV lines, 11,077 distribution transformers and 79,485 km of overhead-transmission lines were damaged by the cyclone, according to a Hindustan Times report. The storm also uprooted at least 1,56,000 utility poles that will need to be re-installed, the report continues. Fani was one of the worst storms to hit India since 1999, taking the lives **of 41 people in the state** . Here some related stories around Cyclone Fani’s formation and impact: _**Understanding Cyclone Fani: How sea surface temperature determines the strength of cyclones**_ _**Anatomy of Cyclone Fani in maps: Climatic factors that caused tropical storm Fani to grow quickly in intensity**_ _**Is Cyclone Fani a result of global warming? A climate scientist has the answer**_ _**Cyclone Fani from Space: Satellite images show fearsome wrath of the severe storm**_