Kharagpur: Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, reached Bangladesh on Saturday several hours after it unleashed a trail of massive destruction claiming at least 10 lives in Odisha from where it entered West Bengal late on Friday.
The severe cyclonic storm, which battered Odisha claiming at least 10 lives and unleashed a trail of destruction on its way, made landfall in West Bengal late on Friday. The cyclonic storm weakened into a cyclonic storm as it crossed Kharagpur and moved towards the north-east direction with a wind speed of 90 km/hour.
After entering Bengal, Fani lashed towns and cities including Digha, Haldia, Tajpur, Mandarmani, Sandehskhali, Contai, Diamond Harbour, Bankura, Sriniketan, Asansol, Dumdum and Alipore. Apart from Kharagpur and Kolkata, effects of the storm could also be felt in Burdwan district. Trees were uprooted, power and telecom lines snapped, metal hoardings gave away as the storm swept through Bengal.
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–Four more persons dead in Jajpur due to Cyclone Fani, death toll reaches 15
-No more threat to West Bengal from Cyclone Fani as it has now reached Bangladesh.
-One more dead in Odisha’s Bhadrak and one in Jajpur. The total count now stands at 12.
–IMD update: Severe Cyclone Fani weakened into a cyclonic storm and lay centered at 60 km NW of Kolkata at 0530 IST of 4th May. To weaken into deep depression and move into Bangladesh by noon.
-One more dead in Jaleswar. The death toll due to Cyclone Fani rises to 10.
-Death toll due to Cyclone Fani in Odisha: Kendrapara (Rajnagar) – 2, Puri (Sakhigopal) – 2, Nayagarh (Dashapalla) – 1, Mayurbhanj – 2, Jajpur- 2.
-The road network in several districts suffered extensive damage. The power distribution network and the telecom network has also been severely affected.
-Heavy to very heavy rains lashing the coastal districts since Thursday night.
-Thousands of trees and electricity poles have been uprooted under the impact of the cyclonic storm that made landfall in Puri, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur.
–Several trees have been uprooted in parts of West Bengal after Cyclone Fani entered the state late on Friday.
-No loss of life or any injury has been reported from Bengal so far.
-The rains are expected to continue till early Saturday.
-“It is likely to continue further in the north, northeast direction, and reach the east Burdwan-Hooghly border, and through Nadia go to Bangladesh on Saturday afternoon, weakening into a cyclonic storm, after having triggered rains,” he added.
–“The severe cyclonic storm Fani entered Bengal at 12.30 AM through Odisha`s Balasore. It crossed Kharagpur packing wind of 70-80 kmph, gusting to 90 kmph,” Regional Meteorological Centre`s Deputy Director General Sanjib Bandyopadhyay told IANS.
-On the other side of the border, Bangladesh too braced for the cyclone, evacuating over five lakh people from coastal areas.
-A red alert has been issued in coastal areas and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.
-Flight and train operations were affected with around 220 trains on Howrah-Chennai route have been cancelled keeping in view passengers’ safety, an East Coast Railway (ECoR) official said.
-The evacuees have been accommodated in over 4,000 shelters, including 880 specially designed cyclone centres where free cooked food is being served to them, he said.
-“In the last 24 hours, 12 lakh people have been evacuated to safer locations and they are being taken care of in shelters,” Patnaik told media, adding that full assessment of damage will be possible only after it crosses the state.
-Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a review meeting with senior officials on the destruction caused by cyclonic storm Fani in the state.
-It claimed at least 10 lives and left over 160 injured, as officials awaited information from far-off regions.
-Parts of Kolkata and surrounding areas received moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday afternoon.
-Cyclone Fani, the most powerful tropical storm to hit India in 20 years, pummeled through coastal Odisha with wind speeds of over 200 kmph on Friday but failed to cause widespread death and destruction due to massive pre-emptive measures taken by the state government and other agencies.
