Millions of households have plunged into darkness after Cyclone Fani, one of the worst storms to hit India since 1999, made a landfall in Odisha last week and killed over 40 people.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday released several images comparing the lighting in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, often referred as twin cities, before and after the storm.

The images show city lighting on April 30 (before the storm) and on May 5, 2019, two days after Fani made landfall.

Telecommunication lines snapped in several parts of state capital Bhubaneswar and several other areas. Mobile towers were damaged and power supply was disconnected in many places. A Bhubaneswar report said scores of trees collapsed, blocking roads.

The toll in cyclone Fani on Wednesday rose to 41, while power restoration work is on full wing in the affected areas with additional skilled manpower being drawn from other states.

The government has sought cooperation of the power consumers and said time is required to fully restore power connection in the cyclone devastated areas. As many as 1.56 lakh new electric poles have been uprooted in the 'extremely severe' cyclone Fani.

Photograph: @NASAEarth/Twitter