Cyclone kills 14, flattens hundreds of homes in India, Bangladesh
160-170
kmph gusting to 190 kmph — intensity of the cyclone 30km in diameter is the eye of the cyclone 150,000 People evacuated from low-lying areas in Odisha 4HOURS duration of the landfall
kolkata — A powerful cyclone killed at least 14 people as it swept through eastern India and Bangladesh on Wednesday, accompanied by a storm surge that swamped embankments and destroyed hundreds of homes in low-lying coastal areas, officials said.
Authorities had moved around 3 million people to safety in both countries this week, as Cyclone Amphan brewed in the Bay of Bengal to become one of the strongest storms to hit the region in years. The operation was complicated by efforts to avoid a surge in coronavirus cases.
With gusting winds of up to 185km per hour triggering a storm surge of around five metres, the cyclone moved inland through India’s populous West Bengal state before hitting Bangladesh, weather officials said.
At least three people, including a 13-year-old girl, had died in West Bengal, authorities said. Two more killed by falling trees in neighbouring Bangladesh. Strong winds upturned cars in Kolkata and felled trees and electricity poles, television pictures showed. Officials said it was too early to estimate a toll on life or damage to property.
Cyclones frequently batter parts of eastern India and Bangladesh between April and December, often forcing the evacuations of tens of thousands and causing widespread damage. Around 3,500 people were killed in 2007 when Cyclone Sidr cut a path of destruction through Bangladesh, and an estimated 10,000 died after a super cyclone like Amphan struck India’s Odisha state in 1999.
Warning systems, evacuation measures, and storm shelters in both countries have been strengthened since.
Surge and high tide
Surging waters broke through embankments surrounding an island in Bangladesh’s Noakhali district, destroying more than 500 homes, local official Rezaul Karim said.
“We could avoid casualties as people were moved to cyclone centres earlier,” Karim said.
Embankments were also breached in West Bengal’s Sundarban delta, where weather authorities had said the surge whipped up by the cyclone could inundate up to 15km inland.
The ecologically-fragile region straddling the Indian-Bangladesh border is best known for thick mangrove forests that are a critical tiger habitat, and is home to around 4 million people in India. —