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Cyclone Amphan Highlights: Impact Worse Than Coronavirus: Mamata Banerjee On Cyclone Amphan
Cyclone Amphan Highlights: Cyclone Amphan is one of the fiercest storms to form over Bay of Bengal.
New Delhi:
The impact of Cyclone Amphan on West Bengal has been worse than the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said this evening after the extremely severe cyclonic storm pounded Bengal, killing three people, damaging buildings and uprooting trees. Damages due to Amphan, she said, could be worth Rs 1 lakh crore.
Ms Banerjee, addressing a press conference in Kolkata, said three people have died, but that number may rise to 10 or 12. She said the North and South 24 Parganas districts were the worst hit and that Bengal "will have to re-build everything".
Kolkata and nearby areas are witnessing winds of over 100 kmph and pounding rain after Cyclone Amphan, one of the worst storms over the Bay of Bengal in years, made landfall this evening in West Bengal towards Sunderbans, a marshy region famous for its mangroves.
Three people have died and many buildings in Kolkata were damaged.
The eye of the cyclone, 30 km in diameter, has touched land, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrityunjay Mohapatra said. Over five lakh people have been taken to shelters in West Bengal and over one lakh in Odisha, the National Disaster Response Force (NRDF) chief said today in a press briefing
The storm had weakened from a super cyclone to an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday and triggered strong winds and rain in parts of Odisha and Bengal. This is the second pre-monsoon cyclone to hit India in two years and has been anticipated as one of the worst storm over Bay of Bengal in decades.
It has hit Bengal at a time when restrictions are in place due to coronavirus. On Tuesday, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief SN Pradhan told reporters they face the "double challenge" of the coronavirus pandemic and a natural disaster.
Forty teams of the NDRF have been deployed in West Bengal and Odisha to deal with any emergency situation, Mr Pradhan said, adding that Amphan is "a second disaster coming amid COVID-19 pandemic" and it needs continuous monitoring.
Here are the Highlights on Cyclone AMPHAN:
Cyclone Amphan about 170 km south of West Bengal's Digha, says weather department
Cyclone Amphan lay centred about 170 km south of West Bengal's Digha as an extremely severe cyclonic storm over west central Bay of Bengal and is likely to make landfall near Sunderbans between Wednesday afternoon and evening, the weather department said.
Amphan is likely to move north-northeastwards after landfall and pass close to Kolkata in its eastern side, causing extensive damage and flooding of low-lying areas in the city, the weather office said.
The system, which was moving in a northward direction at a speed of 20 km per hour, was situated 300 km southeast of Kolkata at 11 am on Wednesday, it said, reported news agency PTI.
It is likely to weaken and move through Nadia and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal as a cyclonic storm and then into Bangladesh as a deep depression on Thursday morning, the MeT department said.
The intensity near the centre of the storm was 170 to 180 kmph gusting to 200kmph, it said.
"The cyclone is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha and Hatiya, close to Sunderbans between afternoon and evening on Wednesday with a wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph as a very severe cyclonic storm," the weather office said.
Cyclone Amphan lay centred about 170 km south of West Bengal's Digha as an extremely severe cyclonic storm over west central Bay of Bengal and is likely to make landfall near Sunderbans between Wednesday afternoon and evening, the weather department said.
Amphan is likely to move north-northeastwards after landfall and pass close to Kolkata in its eastern side, causing extensive damage and flooding of low-lying areas in the city, the weather office said.
The system, which was moving in a northward direction at a speed of 20 km per hour, was situated 300 km southeast of Kolkata at 11 am on Wednesday, it said, reported news agency PTI.
It is likely to weaken and move through Nadia and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal as a cyclonic storm and then into Bangladesh as a deep depression on Thursday morning, the MeT department said.
The intensity near the centre of the storm was 170 to 180 kmph gusting to 200kmph, it said.
"The cyclone is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha and Hatiya, close to Sunderbans between afternoon and evening on Wednesday with a wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph as a very severe cyclonic storm," the weather office said.
Published: May 20, 2020 07:18 IST
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Press Trust of India
Cyclone Amphan has torn through West Bengal. Many parts of the state, including the city of joy, have been devastated. Lakhs of homes have been damaged. Crops in thousands of acres destroyed. Livelihoods lost.
The poorest have been hit the hardest. Now your support will help the people of Bengal recover from this cyclone’s devastation.
Join us to help the poorest who have suffered the most in Bengal. Your donations will help provide food and medication to those who need it the most.
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