Authors: Mohammad Bonir Hussain, Ruma Paul and Subrata Nag Chaudhry
SAKHIRA, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Robust winds and heavy rains from Cyclone Remar battered the coastlines of India and Bangladesh on Monday, killing no less than 16 individuals and slicing energy to tens of millions earlier than weakening. provide.
The storm is the primary hurricane of the 12 months that has regularly hit the low-lying coast of the South Asian neighbor lately as local weather change raises ocean floor temperatures.
Loading at speeds of as much as 135 km/h (84 mph), it handed by means of Bangladesh’s southern port of Mongla and the Sagar Islands within the adjoining Indian state of West Bengal on Sunday evening, climate officers mentioned, at 9 p.m. (Inexperienced Touchdown round 1530 UTC).
As information unfold from the coast, official demise tolls rose in each nations.
At the least 10 individuals have been killed in Bangladesh, catastrophe administration chief Mijanur Rahman instructed Reuters, with out offering particulars.
Rahman earlier mentioned two individuals died whereas heading to hurricane shelters, including that authorities wanted extra time to evaluate the complete extent of the harm.
“Persons are typically very reluctant to go away their livestock and houses to go to hurricane shelters,” he mentioned. “They wait till the final minute and sometimes it is too late.”
4 individuals died from electrocution within the Indian state of West Bengal, authorities mentioned, taking the demise toll within the state to 6.
One individual was crushed to demise by falling concrete within the state capital Kolkata, whereas a lady died when a mud hut collapsed on Musuni Island within the Sundarbans delta.
The ability provide is affected
Bangladesh has shut down energy provides in some areas early to keep away from accidents, whereas downed timber and downed energy strains in lots of coastal cities have additional disrupted energy provides, officers from the Bangladesh Energy Ministry mentioned.
“We’ve got had no energy since evening and my cell phone battery will die at any time,” mentioned Rahat Raja, a resident of the Satkhila district on the coast of Bangladesh. “By the grace of Allah, the hurricane was not as extreme as we thought.”
Officers added that just about 3 million individuals in Bangladesh have been with out energy. Authorities in West Bengal state mentioned no less than 1,200 electrical energy poles have been uprooted and 300 mud huts have been razed to the bottom.
The sturdy winds additionally blew off the roofs of some tin and thatched homes. Rainfall and excessive tides have broken some embankments and flooded coastal areas within the Sundarbans, dwelling to among the world’s largest mangrove forests and shared by India and Bangladesh.
Roads in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, have been flooded by rain and visitors was disrupted. Authorities arrange practically 8,000 cyclone shelters and recruited 78,000 volunteers in preparation for the storm.
In Mongla, boatman Shah Alom mentioned he had by no means seen such a chronic cyclone in a long time. “Normally storms final just a few hours, however this one has been occurring since final evening,” he mentioned. “I do not know when it should finish.”
Tv photos confirmed rain from the storm flooding many streets in Kolkata, with experiences of partitions collapsing and no less than 52 timber toppling.
Over 50 flights have been resumed in Kolkata since Sunday after they have been canceled. Suburban practice companies have additionally resumed.
Authorities say practically a million individuals have been moved to shelters in each nations, together with about 800,000 in Bangladesh and 110,000 in India.
The storm is predicted to maneuver northeast and weaken right into a deep melancholy by the afternoon, bringing extra rain to states there, they added.
