Cyclone lashes India, Bangladesh
At least six people die; 1.1M evacuated
NEW DELHI — Heavy rain and a high tide lashed parts of eastern India and neighboring Bangladesh on Wednesday as a cyclone pushed ashore in an area where more than 1.1 million people were evacuated during a devastating coronavirus outbreak. At least six people were reported dead.
Cyclone Yaas had already caused two deaths and damaged homes as heavy rain pounded Odisha and West Bengal states before it made landfall in the late morning.
Another person died in a house collapse in West Bengal state on Wednesday, the state’s top elected official, Mamata Banerjee, said. The Press Trust of India news agency said two people were killed when they were hit by uprooted trees and another person died in a house collapse in Odisha state. There was no official confirmation of the report.
The “very severe cyclonic storm” packed sustained winds of 87 mph and gusts of up to 97 mph when it made landfall, the India Meteorological Department said. With the storm now almost fully on land, winds were expected to weaken.
In Bangladesh, thousands of people in 200 villages were marooned as their homes, shops and farms were flooded by tidal surges.
In southern Patuakhali district, more than 20 villages in Rangabali went underwater after two river embankments were washed away, said Mashfaqur Rahman, the area’s top administrator. He said at least 15,000 people had taken refuge in cyclone shelters.
In India, television images showed knee-deep water flooding the beachfront and other areas of Digha, a resort town in West Bengal. Wind gusts whipped palm trees back and forth, and water overflowed several river banks.
West Bengal state’s top elected official, Mamata Banerjee, told reporters that 20,000 mud huts and temporary shelters for the poor have been damaged along the coast.
On Tuesday, a tornado snapped electricity lines that electrocuted two people and damaged 40 houses, Banerjee said.
More than 6.5 inches of rain have fallen in the Chandabali and Paradip regions of Odisha state since Tuesday, the meteorological department said. Tidal waves of up to 13 feet were forecast.