Cyclone Emergency Helplines and Apps in India: Numbers to Save
In the middle of a cyclone is the worst time to search the internet for a phone number. Mobile data may be gone, your battery may be low, and every second counts. This page puts the essential cyclone helpline numbers, official apps and trusted websites for India in one place, with a short note on when to use each.
Our advice: save these numbers in your phone today, write them on paper, and keep that paper in your emergency kit.
Emergency Numbers to Save Now
| Number | Service | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| 112 | National emergency number (police, fire, ambulance) | Any life-threatening emergency, anywhere in India |
| 1077 | District control room (collector's office) | Evacuation help, trapped people, flooded villages, blocked roads in your district |
| 1070 | State Emergency Operations Centre | State-level disaster help and information |
| 108 | Emergency ambulance (most states) | Medical emergencies, injuries, snakebite |
| 102 | Ambulance for pregnant women and infants (many states) | Labour, pregnancy complications, sick newborns |
| 101 | Fire and rescue | Fires, collapsed buildings, people trapped |
| 100 | Police (merged into 112 in many states) | Law and order, missing persons |
| 1554 | Indian Coast Guard (maritime search and rescue) | Boats in distress, people missing at sea |
| 1912 | Electricity complaints (many states) | Fallen power lines, sparking wires, live wires in water |
| 1098 | Childline | Lost, separated or unsafe children |
| 181 | Women's helpline (most states) | Women in distress, safety in shelters |
| 14416 | Tele-MANAS mental health helpline | Shock, anxiety, grief or panic after the disaster |
Some numbers work differently from state to state. At the start of each cyclone season, check the exact control room numbers for your district on your district collector's website or your State Disaster Management Authority's website. District control rooms often publish extra landline and WhatsApp numbers when a cyclone is approaching.
Tips for Calling During a Cyclone
- Say your location first: village, block, district and a landmark. If the call drops, the responder already knows where to come.
- Be specific: how many people, any injuries, elderly or children, and whether water is rising.
- Keep calls short so lines stay free for others, and to save your battery.
- Try SMS if calls do not go through. Text messages often get through on a weak network when calls fail.
- Share your live location with a family member outside the cyclone area while you still have data.
Official Apps That Give Real Warnings
Install these before the season and allow notifications. All of them are free and from Indian government agencies.
Mausam (IMD)
The India Meteorological Department's official app. It shows current weather, forecasts, radar images and district-level colour-coded warnings (green, yellow, orange, red), and gives access to cyclone bulletins. If you install only one weather app, make it this one.
SACHET (NDMA)
The National Disaster Management Authority's alert app. It sends warnings from government agencies for your location, such as cyclones, heavy rain, floods and lightning. The same alert system can also send SMS warnings to phones in an affected area.
Damini (IITM Pune)
Lightning kills more people in India than any other natural hazard in most years, and thunderstorms come before and after many cyclones. Damini warns you when lightning is likely within about 20-40 km of where you are.
Meghdoot (IMD and ICAR)
Weather advisories for farmers in local languages, by district: when to harvest early, how to protect standing crops and livestock before a cyclone.
112 India
The official app of the national emergency response system. It has an SOS button that sends your location to the emergency response centre.
Turn On Emergency Alerts on Your Phone
India now uses cell broadcast to send emergency alerts to every phone in an area, even without a mobile data connection. These alerts appear as a loud pop-up with a special sound. Make sure they are not switched off:
- Android: Settings, then Safety and emergency (or Notifications), then Wireless emergency alerts. Turn on extreme and severe threats.
- iPhone: Settings, then Notifications, then scroll to the bottom and turn on Government Alerts.
The exact menu names vary by phone, but search for "emergency alerts" in your phone's settings.
Official Websites for Cyclone Information
- IMD Cyclone Page: official bulletins, forecast track maps and warnings.
- RSMC New Delhi: IMD's regional cyclone centre for the whole North Indian Ocean, with detailed technical bulletins.
- INCOIS: the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, for high wave, swell surge and storm surge alerts along the coast.
- NDMA: national guidelines on what to do before, during and after a cyclone.
- Your State Disaster Management Authority website and social media (for example OSDMA in Odisha or APSDMA in Andhra Pradesh) for evacuation orders and shelter lists.
When the Network Goes Down
In a strong cyclone, mobile towers can lose power or be damaged. Plan for this before it happens.
- Battery radio: All India Radio and local FM stations broadcast official warnings and relief information when nothing else works.
- Community warnings: in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and other coastal states, early warning sirens, volunteers with megaphones and village task forces spread evacuation orders. Listen for them.
- Agree on a family plan: decide in advance where everyone will meet and which relative outside the area everyone will call when the network comes back.
- Cyclone shelters usually have officials with wireless or satellite communication. If you have no way to call for help, the nearest shelter is where help is.
Beware of Fake Warnings
During every cyclone, WhatsApp forwards and social media posts spread false claims: "super cyclone will hit tomorrow", old videos from other countries, or fake evacuation orders. Before you forward anything:
- Check whether it comes from IMD, NDMA, your state disaster authority or the district collector.
- Check the date and time. A real bulletin always says when it was issued.
- Be careful with weather model maps from apps and websites. They show computer model guesses, not official forecasts. Our guide IMD vs JTWC: Why Different Agencies Give Different Numbers explains why.
Your One-Page Checklist
- ☐ Save 112, 1077, 1070, 108 and your district control room landline
- ☐ Write them on paper and keep it in your emergency kit
- ☐ Install Mausam, SACHET and Damini, and allow notifications
- ☐ Turn on emergency alerts in your phone settings
- ☐ Keep a battery radio with spare batteries
- ☐ Know your nearest cyclone shelter and the route to it
- ☐ Agree on a meeting point and an outside contact with your family
Next, put together your cyclone emergency kit, and follow any active storm on our Active Systems page.
Helpline numbers are correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing, but some vary by state. Indian Cyclones is an independent explainer, not an official warning service.