The death toll in the calamity had risen to 85 with Ganjam district alone accounting for 71 casualties, official reports received here said.

The toll could rise further as the reports from the interiors were still coming in, revenue minister Jagannath Patnaik told reporters here.

Fourteen of the 22 blocks of Ganjam district, involving over 460 villages, had been affected by the cyclone, the Minister said.

Patnaik, who camped in Behrampur for three days to supervise relief and restoration measures, said that Behrampur city as also nearby towns of Chatrapur and Gopalpur, were groping without power for the fourth day today.

As scores of huge electric pylons had been twisted out of shape by the horrifying cyclone, it would bedifficult to restore power supply within the next four or five days, he said. Grid corporation of Orissa Ltd (GRIDCO) authorities,however, had assured that power supply would be restored to the M K C G medical college hospital and water supply installation by tonight, he said.

Besides the deaths in Ganjam district, four deaths were reported from Keonjhar district, two each from Gajapati, Puri and Khurda districts and one from Dhenkanal district.

Asked about the extent of loss caused by the cyclone, the Revenue Minister said that it would be hard to quantify the damage in view of the magnitude of the devastation. But it could not be less than Rs 500 crore, he said.

Meanwhile, the PCC president Hemananda Biswal, who visited the cyclone ravaged district today urged the centre to treat the disaster as a National calamity.

Pending visit of a central team to assess the damages, the Centre should accede to the state government's plea for immediate ad hoc assistance of Rs.50 crore to meet the situation, hesaid.

The Union Minister for Mines and Minerals, Naveen Patnaik who visited the affected district, promised to take up the case with the centre for release of funds. He, however, alleged that the state government had totally failed to handle the situation.