Amphan batters Bengal, Odisha as 6.5 lakh evacuated; six dead
Gigantic tidal waves disrupt power for many; Kolkata airport suspends ops
Amphan, the extremely severe cyclone packing winds of up to 190 kmph, roared into West Bengal on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain and leaving a trail of destruction that left at least six people dead, including a threemonth-old child, officials said.
Amphan made a fourhour-long fierce landfall at Digha on West BengalOdisha border near Sundrban and Hatiya in Bangladesh, cutting a swathe through the coastal areas, flattening fragile dwellings, uprooting trees and electric poles.
The landfall, between
2.30 pm and 6.30 pm, witnessed strong winds with speed of 155-165 kilometres per hour (kmph) gusting to
185 kmph and torrential downpour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Video clips showed gigantic tidal waves crashing into a seawall in Digha and thick sheets of rain blurring the vast coastline in the two states.
Initial reports said in several districts of West Bengal, including North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Kolkata, East Midinapore, West Midinapore, Murishidabad and Burdwan, trees and electric poles were uprooted, thatched houses were destroyed and thousands of acres of standing crops got inundated in heavy downpour and tidal waves.
Several areas of both the states plunged into darkness as electric installations collapsed. Communication network also snapped as telephone towers crumbled.
Movement on roads was seriously disrupted with large trees and electric poles blocking vehicular movement.
The cyclone claimed at least three lives in West Bengal, and three in Odisha.
A teen-aged girl from Howrah died when she was hit by a flying ironsheet. At Basirhat in North 24 Parganas, a youth named Mahanta Das died after a tree on him in his own courtyard. In Minakhan, North 24 Parganas, a woman identified as Nur Jahan Behra died. In Odisha, two people died in cyclone shelters due to ailments and a three-month old child due to wall collapse.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remained in the disaster control room during the landfall and oversaw the operations by various agencies deployed on the ground. Flight operations at Kolkata airport were suspended due to adverse conditions.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and special relief Commissioner P.K. Jena were in constant touch with collectors of north Odisha districts.
At least 6.58 lakh people were evacuated in West Bengal and Odisha before the cyclone struck.
Dhaka, May 20: Over 10 lakh consumers in the coastal areas of Bangladesh were without power after strong winds snapped electricity lines and many houses destroyed as the country was hit by a powerful cyclone on Wednesday that killed at least one person. Cyclone Amphan, the strongest to hit the region in nearly two decades, made a landfall on Wednesday evening.
Authorities raised the alert level to ‘great danger’ for some districts in the country as the cyclone, the most powerful storm since cyclone ‘Sidr’ killed nearly 3,500 people in 2007, approached the coastline.
“More than 10 lakh consumers in at least 17 associations of the Rural Electrification Board have lost electricity,” bdnews24.com reported. Apart from this, almost 40,000 customers of West Zone Power Distribution Company have lost electricity supply. The cyclone made landfall at 2.30 p.m. between Digha in West Bengal and and Hatiya island in Bangladesh, flattening fragile dwellings, uprooting trees and electric poles. The cyclone Amphan started crossing the Bangladesh
coast around 5pm on Wednesday packing a wind speed of around 160 to 180kph rising to 200kph within 80km of its centre, meteorologist Abdul Mannan was quoted as saying by the newsportal.
A Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRC) volunteer drowned on Wednesday when a boat capsized while evacuating villagers to safety in southwestern Patuakhali, becoming the first victim. “He was on a boat along with four others when a sudden storm under advancing Amphan’s influence overturned it,” BDRC’s cyclone preparedness programme Nurul Islam Khan said. Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said authorities had shifted over 20 lakh people to storm shelters and deployed the military to deal with the powerful cyclone Amphan.