Three Dead and over 1 million consumers lose power supply as cyclone Amphan hits Bangladesh coast

Over one million consumers in the coastal areas of Bangladesh were without power after strong winds snapped electricity lines and many houses destroyed as the country was hit by a powerful cyclone on Wednesday that killed at least three persons.

Cyclone 'Amphan', the strongest to hit the region in nearly two decades, made a landfall on Wednesday evening. Authorities raised the alert level to 'great danger' for some districts as the cyclone, the most powerful storm since cyclone 'Sidr' killed nearly 3,500 people in 2007, approached the coastline.

"More than one million consumers in at least 17 associations of the Rural Electrification Board have lost electricity," bdnews24.com reported.

Apart from this, almost 40,000 customers of West Zone Power Distribution Company have lost electricity supply.

The cyclone made landfall at 2.30 p.m. between Digha in West Bengal and and Hatiya island in Bangladesh, flattening fragile dwellings, uprooting trees and electric poles.

The cyclone 'Amphan' started crossing the Bangladesh coast around 5pm on Wednesday packing a wind speed of around 160 to 180kph rising to 200kph within 80km of its centre, meteorologist Abdul Mannan was quoted as saying by the newsportal.

According to initial reports, the storm ravaged coastlines, washing away coastal embankments at several places and claimed at least two lives with one being a child who was a killed when a house collapsed in Galachipa area of Patuakhali. A 70-year-old man died when a tree fell on him at Charfashion.

A Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRC) volunteer drowned on Wednesday when a boat capsized while evacuating villagers to safety in southwestern Patuakhali, becoming the first victim of cyclone Amphan.

"He was on a boat along with four others when a sudden storm under advancing Amphan’s influence overturned it. Three



others managed to escape," BDRC’s cyclone preparedness programme Nurul Islam Khan told PTI.

The BDRC volunteers also reported crack in two embankments in Koira of Khulna and Southkhali of Shoronkhola along the Sundarbans, which first received the major storm impact a 6.30 pm, according to meteorologists.

The cyclone brought with it heavy downpour as predicted while most parts of Khulna region were severely battered by tidal surges.

"The river levels are rising under dark skies, while in the coastal resort of Koyra, Dakop, Batiaghata and Paikgacha large waves are pounding the shore,” according to a local reporter.

Authorities earlier ordered ships and bigger fishing boats to be anchored in safe places but the reports suggested many rafts and engine-run vessels went missing or sank, severing their anchors.

"Twenty lakh people have so far been evacuated to the cyclone centres as part of the prior preparation," Hasina was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.

The Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force have made preparations to tackle the super cyclone which has moved within 400km of Bangladesh’s coast and is expected to make landfall on Wednesday evening, Bdnews24.com reported.

Some 740 houses in Patuakhali were washed away as an advanced surge of tidal wave cracked a coastal embankment while the cyclone was approaching, officials said.

"So far 23,90,307 people have been moved to safety along with over half a million cattle... The increased number of people prompted us to increase the number of cyclone shelters from 12,078 to 14,336 in 19 of the southern coastal districts,” state minister for disaster management Enamur Rahman told a media briefing in the afternoon.

Leading global storm tracker AccuWeather on Tuesday described Amphan as the first super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal since 1999.