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Cyclone Amphan Claims 12 Lives, Homes, Structures Damaged In Kolkata, Odisha
Writer: Navya Singh
Navya writes and speaks about matters that often do not come out or doesn’t see daylight. Defense and economy of the country is of special interest to her and a lot of her content revolves around that.
India, 21 May 2020 7:26 AM GMT | Updated 21 May 2020 7:34 AM GMT
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Cyclone Amphan, which battered Odisha and West Bengal on Wednesday, May 20, has claimed as many as 12 lives, bringing down power lines, uprooting trees and inundating several homes, villages.
Cyclone Amphan, which battered Odisha and West Bengal on Wednesday, May 20, has claimed as many as 12 lives, bringing down power lines, uprooting trees and inundating several homes, villages.
The storm made its landfall at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, with strong winds of 155-165 kmph increasing up to 185 kmph. The storm is currently centred over Bangladesh where at least seven people have died.
Among those deceased in Bangladesh are a five-year-old boy and a 75-year-old man, both hit by falling trees, and also a cyclone emergency volunteer who drowned due to heavy rains.
The cyclone in Bengal passed mainly over North and South 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Hooghly, and Kolkata. After hours of the cyclone, the Kolkata airport was flooded and many structures were damaged.
Odisha reported the death of an infant who was crushed by a mud wall amid heavy rains.
"The super cyclonic storm 'Amphan' moved north northeastwards with a speed of 27 kmph during past 6 hours, further weakened into a cyclonic storm and lay centred today at 5.30 am over Bangladesh near Lat. 24.7°N and Long. 89.5°E about 270 km north-northeast of Kolkata, 150 km south of Dhubri and 110 km south-southeast of Rangpur (Bangladesh)," the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday, May 21.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the damage was difficult to assess immediately. She said that the entire islands had been cut off from the mainland and many areas were left without electricity or phone connectivity.
"We are facing three crises: the coronavirus, the thousands of migrants who are returning home and now the cyclone," CM said.
"Area after area has been devastated. Communications are disrupted," Banerjee said, adding that although 5 lakh people had been evacuated, state authorities had not anticipated the ferocity of the storm.
Amphan has emerged as the strongest cyclone over the Bay of Bengal in decades. A similar super cyclone had hit the Bay of Bengal 21 years ago in 1999.
Strong winds and heavy rains triggered by the cyclone affected villages and cities in coastal Odisha and West Bengal.
Also Read: Amphan Likely To Intensify Into "Extremely Severe Cyclone", IMD Warns
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