A Rapid Damage Assessment Study was carried out by the Council after the cyclone which hit coastal areas of Orissa in the last week of October 1999.  The devastating super-cyclone damaged nearly 12 lakh houses in the state requiring large scale repairs and reconstruction work in thirteen districts of the States.  The Council was requested by the State Government to undertake a rapid damage assessment in the most affected districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Khurda and Puri, Bhadrak, Jaypur and Balasore to ascertain the nature and extent of damages to buildings and infrastructure and to prepare an action plan for reconstruction repair and rehabilitation. The study also covered preparation of specifications for repair, retrofitting and reconstruction of houses using disaster resistance technologies.  The key objectives of the Study are going on:

1. Preparation of Visual Damage Identification Guide (VDGI) to assist revenue and state government officials to assess the extent of damage to buildings of different types, 

2. Identification of building materials and construction options for repair and reconstruction of houses,

3. Preparation of a holistic Technology Intervention Plan for repair and reconstruction.