On Wednesday, Cyclone Amphan battered the coastal districts West Bengal, Odisha with heavy rain and storm causing huge damage to properties and lives. The cyclone blew away thatched houses, trees, electric poles and flooded low lying areas including various cities.
According to the reports, the storm hit the east coast at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, with a wind speeds of 155-165 kmph raising up to 185 kmph. The storm weakened as it moved ahead and is currently centred over Bangladesh.
The cyclone has killed 12 people in West Bengal, while seven others have reportedly died in neighbouring Bangladesh. At least three people have lost their lives due to Cyclone Amphan in Odisha.
Severe damage in Odisha
In Odisha, the Cyclone Amphan hit with a maximum wind speed of 120 km per hour due in Dhamra coast in Bhadrak district while in Paradip it was around 100 km per hour. Severe damage has occurred in the state of Odisha. Trees have been uprooted trees and bent electric poles in coastal Odisha districts of Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Balasore.
Hundreds of acred of farmlands are now under saline water in the northern districts of Odisha. Plantations of betel leaves, and coconut have been destroyed, causing huge losses to farmers.
Saline water inundates hundreds of acres of farmland in Chandbali area of Bhadrak district following heavy downpour under the influence of #CycloneAmphan #Odisha pic.twitter.com/TYMmUN0u22
— OTV (@otvnews) May 21, 2020
Prior to the landfall of the cyclone, officials had evacuated more than 1.5 lakh people from the coastal and adjoining districts into cyclone shelters till Tuesday evening. Around 1,585 pregnant women were also brought to safe locations by authorities in the coastal districts.
West Bengal severely impacted
The continuous winds of Cyclone Amphan’s have damaged many structures in Kolkata airport addition to the area being flooded. At least 12 people have lost lives in Bengal as winds at 120 km/hour and heavy rain caused havoc in the eastern state.
A spine chilling footage can be seen be in #Kolkata 's Kankurgachi area where the electric wires are bursting into flames. Power supply has been cut in several areas of Kolkata and #Saltlake as #Amphan continues to lash #WestBengal #CycloneAmphan pic.twitter.com/RRXVwoiWcm
— Sourish Mukherjee (@me_sourish_) May 20, 2020
Amphan slammed into Bengal around 2.30 pm on Wednesday, uprooting trees, damaging power lines and destroying many buildings in Kolkata and other parts of the state. The cyclone passed mainly over North and South 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Hooghly, and Kolkata.
#WATCH West Bengal: A portion of Kolkata Airport flooded in wake of #CycloneAmphan pic.twitter.com/28q5MdqoD2
— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020
Meanwhile, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Cyclone Amphan has caused a catastrophe in the state. “Sorbanaash hoye gachhe (everything has been ruined),” said Mamata Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee said the impact of Amphan was worse than the coronavirus pandemic and claimed the cyclone could have caused damage worth Rs 1 lakh crore.
On Thursday morning, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the super cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’ has moved north northeastwards with a speed of 27 kmph during last few hours, further weakened into a cyclonic storm, thus indicating that the worst is over.
Cyclone Amphan is considered to be the fiercest cyclone over the Bay of Bengal, and also the first super cyclone since 1999, which had killed more than 10,000 in Odisha then.
