Six hours of Cyclone Amphan’s wrecking winds left Kolkata airport flooded and many structures within damaged. At least 12 people died in Bengal as winds at 120 km/hour and heavy rain left a trail of devastation.
Cyclone Amphan, one of the worst storms over the Bay of Bengal in years, has killed 12 people in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.
The powerful cyclone destroyed thousands of homes, leaving authorities struggling to mount relief efforts amid the coronavirus crisis. Bengal took the brunt of Cyclone Amphan, which barreled into the coast with gusting winds of up to 185 km per hour.
Ms Banerjee said the impact of Amphan was worse than the coronavirus pandemic and claimed damages due to the cyclone could be in the region of Rs 1 lakh crore. Over five lakh people had been taken to shelters in Bengal and over one lakh in Odisha.
Road clearance and restoration work by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are underway after extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan hit West Bengal .
NDRF Director-General SN Pradhan tweeted photographs of restoration work by NDRF personnel at various locations in West Bengal, including North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Howrah, Kolkata and South 24 Parganas.
The cyclone made landfall with gusting winds of up to 185 kmph and waves about 15 feet tall. Over five lakh people had been placed in shelters in West Bengal and over one lakh in Odisha.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that severe cyclonic storm Amphan over Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coast moved north-northeastwards with a speed of 30 km/ph during the past six hours and it is very likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and weaken further into a deep depression during the next three hours and into a depression during subsequent six hours.
In its daily bulletin IMD said that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Western Assam and Meghalaya and heavy at other northeastern states during the next 24 hours. IMD has also predicted a Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and squall at isolated places in Bihar and lightning and gusty winds over Lakshadweep, and Kerala.
