Cyclone Amphan Leaves Many Dead, Batters Bengal, Odisha

The severe cyclonic storm Amphan ripped through the coastline of Odisha and West Bengal on Wednesday, wreaking havoc to property and leaving at least 12 dead in West Bengal, according to media reports. The cyclone barrelled through the two eastern states accompanied by high velocity winds and reached havoc along the coastal belt.

Cyclone Amphan is now expected to weaken and morph into a depression as it heads north-north eastwards. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted that heavy rainfall would continue for close to 24 hours after the landfall of cyclone Amphan.

Cyclone Amphan has moved north-northeast wards with a speed of 20 7 km/ph during the past six hours weakening into a cyclonic storm and lay centred over Bangladesh, about 270 km north-north east of Kolkata, according to IMD.

Both West Bengal and Odisha, reeling already from the Coronavirus pandemic, now have more cause to worry.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is said to have observed that the losses faced by the state as per initial estimates, could be up to Rs.1 lakh crores due to the devastation caused by cyclone Amphan. The West Bengal chief minister told the media on Wednesday that the storm had devastated North 24 Paraganas and South 24 Paraganas districts. Kolkata and Howrah have also been battered by cyclone Amphan.

National disaster response force (NDRF) teams have been working on the ground carrying out restoration work in many areas of the state. Odisha has also been severely impacted by Cyclone Amphan.