Cyclone Remal made landfall between the coastlines of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday night. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it weakened into a “cyclonic storm” on Monday morning and is expected to weaken even more throughout the course of the day. But the storm left the coastal regions of West Bengal completely destroyed, with homes and trees uprooted.
A wall fall in the Bibir Bagan neighbourhood of Kolkata claimed one life, and debris struck someone else in the Gosaba neighbourhood of the Sundarbans, injuring them.
At the Kolkata airport, flight operations have not yet started after being halted as a precaution on Sunday at noon and continued till Monday at nine in the morning.
More than one lakh people were evacuated by the authorities from West Bengal’s hazardous districts.
With winds as high as 135 kmph, the cyclone made landfall on Sunday night between Sagar Island in the state and Khepupara in Bangladesh.
As per the latest IMD bulletin, cyclone Remal is “likely to move north-northeastwards and gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm during next three hours. Thereafter, it would move northeastward and gradually weaken further,” it said in a tweet.
In the Alipore neighbourhood of the city, teams from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police Disaster Management Department are still clearing up uprooted trees. The news agency was informed by South Kolkata DC Priyabrate Roy that road clearing work is in progress and that things will be back to normal by Monday.
On Sunday night, PM Narendra Modi presided over a meeting to discuss the reaction to and readiness for Cyclone Remal. He was informed that the state administration of Bengal was often contacted by the National Crisis Management Committee.
Since cyclone Remal is expected to weaken into a cyclonic storm on Monday, a ‘orange alert’ has been issued in 11 districts of Assam and a red alert for exceptionally heavy rain in seven districts. While squally winds of 40–50 kmph with gusts up to 60 kmph are predicted for South Assam and Meghalaya today, the IMD has issued a warning of significant rain over Assam and other northeastern states on Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday morning, the Indian Coast Guard said it was “closely monitoring the landfall of cyclone Remal with disaster response team, ships, hovercraft standby at short notice to respond to post-impact challenges. Follow official advisories, Stay informed and stay safe,” it said in a tweet.
Electric poles were bent, trees were uprooted in some places, and thatched house roofs were blown off in the districts of East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, and West Bengal. In the meantime, homes and streets in low-lying districts that bordered Kolkata were submerged.
The West Bengal government shifted around 1.10 lakh people from coastal and vulnerable areas to cyclone shelters, schools and colleges by Sunday afternoon. Evacuation efforts focused on relocating people from South 24 Parganas district, especially Sagar Island, Sundarbans and Kakdwip.
On Monday, there is predicted to be increased wind and rain in Digha, Kakdwip, and Jaynagar. Somnath Dutta, the eastern regional head of the IMD, said that there would be more rain and wind in the southern Bengal areas.
More than 8 lakh people in Bangladesh were evacuated from low-lying districts along the southwest coast of the nation. A guy was carried away by the tidal waves in Patuakhali, according to officials, while multiple others were hurt.
Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Barguna, Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Feni, Comilla, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, and Chandpur are among the coastal districts of Bangladesh that are currently at risk of cyclones.
