Cyclone Amphan, which is known as the worst storm over the Bay of Bengal, has reportedly killed 12 people in West Bengal as per Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The cyclone made landfall along the coastline of Bangladesh and caused heavy rains with tidal surges up to nine feet. Reports reveal that Amphan crossed West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha and Hatiya between 3:30 to 5:30 pm on Wednesday.
Chief Minister said that the impact of Amphan was worse than coronavirus pandemic in the country and said that damages could be of Rs 1 lakh crore in the state. She further added that although 5 lakh people were evacuated earlier to the storm, the state authorities didn’t anticipate the ferocity of the storm. In Kolkata, strong winds unturned cars and felled trees and electric poles. Moreover, half of the cities were plugged in darkness.
The fatalities were reported from Satkhira, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Bhola and many more. Daily Star Enamur Rahman, state minister for disaster management and relief said that a total of 24,08,819 people took refuge in 14,636 shelters till 3:00 pm, and more than five lakh cattle were also brought to the shelters. Total of 325 medical teams have been set up by Civil Surgeon’s office to deal with all time of medical emergencies and the authorities have opened 10 control rooms to monitor the loss by the cyclone.
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#WATCH: Strong winds and heavy rain damaged Police barricading at Howrah Bridge, earlier today. #CycloneAmphan #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/bSi923BXkn
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2020
Currently, road clearance and restoration work by National Disaster Response Force are underway after Amphan hit Bengal on Wednesday. The cyclone over Bangladesh and West Bengal coast moved towards north with a speed of 30 kmph in the last 6 hours.
Restoration work by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel underway at Airport Road in Kolkata, West Bengal: SN Pradhan, Director General of National Disaster Response Force #CycloneAmphan pic.twitter.com/wVmiiTNOjl
— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020
West Bengal: Trees uprooted & waterlogging in several parts of Kolkata in wake of #CycloneAmphan. The cyclone is very likely to weaken into a deep depression during the next 3 hours as per India Meteorological Department (IMD). pic.twitter.com/f81DZw3a0W
— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020