NEW DELHI, May 21 (NNN-PTI) – Three people were killed Wednesday, after super cyclone Amphan battered India’s eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha.
According to local media, two women and a man were killed after gusty winds uprooted trees in Howrah and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
The super cyclone, triggering winds of up to 190 kph, entered West Bengal accompanied with heavy rains, leaving a trail of destruction.
Officials said, the cyclone entered into human habitations, blowing away makeshift houses, uprooting electric poles and trees.
Super cyclone Amphan crossed West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts, as a very severe cyclonic storm with speed of 155-165 kph gusting to 185 kph across Sunderban, near Latitude 21.65°N and Longitude 88.3°E,” reads information released by India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Authorities said, they evacuated 658,000 people in West Bengal and Odisha, ahead of the cyclone. Half a million people were evacuated in West Bengal, and over 158,000 were evacuated in Odisha.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief, S N Pradhan, told a press conference in New Delhi that 20 teams of rescuers have begun road clearing operations in Odisha, while in West Bengal the personnel were shifting people to safety.
The cyclonic storm is likely to get weaker while crossing over Nadia and Murshidabad in West Bengal later, before entering Bangladesh.
Authorities deployed 41 teams of NDRF in West Bengal and Odisha.
The severe cyclonic storm comes at a time when India is fighting COVID-19, which has affected 106,750 people in the country and killed 3,303.
Reports said, cyclone Amphan is one of the worst storms over the Bay of Bengal in years.– NNN-PTI