At least two persons were killed and two severely injured after due to uprooting of trees in North 24 Parganas after cyclone Amphan entered West Bengal on Wednesday.
Streets in Kolkata waterlogged, trees uprooted and houses damaged due to strong winds and heavy rain as Amphan crossed West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha and Hatiya Islands across Sunderbans, between 03.30 and 05.30 pm today.
Watch | Courtesy: Sreemoyee Piu Kundu
East Midnapore and North 24 Parganas in West Bengal are also seeing heavy rain. Around 5,500 houses have been damaged, as per 7 pm report by Bibek Vasme, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Basirhat.
At least 6.58 lakh people were evacuated in West Bengal and Odisha before the cyclone struck.
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With Cyclone Amphan making landfall, IMD DG Dr M Mohapatra said that they expect windspeeds to go up to 185 kmph over the North and South 24 Paraganas, which will be the worst-hit by the cyclone.
Besides, addressing a press briefing earlier in the day, NDRF chief SN Pradhan said: “Landfall has started. We are keeping a close watch because the situation is fast changing. After the landfall, our work in the actual sense starts like recovery and restoration.”
“Commandments of NDRF are camping in Balasore and South 24 Paraganas. 20 teams in Odisha and 19 teams in West Bengal have been deployed. Two teams are on standby. All teams have wireless and satellite communications,” he added.
In Kolkata, the airport has been shut till 5 am Thursday after the city, close to the coast, was put on alert.
Amphan, pronounced as Um-pun, means sky. The name was given by Thailand in 2004, years ago.