Cyclone Yaas ravages Bengal, Odisha as over 20 lakh evacuated; four dead

Cyclone Yaas packing winds of up to 130145 kmph whiplashed the countrys eastern coasts on Wednesday dumping heavy rain damaging houses and farmlands and leaving at least four persons dead three in Odisha and one in Bengal officials saidThick sheets of rain blurred the vast coastline as the cyclone made landfall around 9 am near Dhamra port in Odisha with surging waters swamping the mudandthatch houses in the lowlying areas where a massive evacuation drive has been undertaken to move more than 20 lakh people to safetyThe storm which had weakened during the afternoon had left the coastal states on edge with the Bengal government claiming that at least one crore people have been affected by the calamity thus far as it hollered on its destructive path towards JharkhandYaas is the second cyclonic storm to hit India within a week after Tauktae tore into its western coast causing death and destructionSeawater inundated several villages in Bahanaga and Remuna blocks in the Balasore district and Dhamra and Basudevpur in the Bhadrak district Odishas Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena saidThe administration with the help of the locals is taking measures to drain out the saline water from the villages Jena explainedHeavy rainfall in the Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district sparked fears of a flash flood in the Budhabalang river By afternoon the water level in the river stood at 21 metre against the danger level of 27 metre the special relief commissioner saidLocal sources said two persons were killed one each in Keonjhar and Balasore after trees fell on them but there was no official confirmation yetAnother elderly woman in Mayurbhanj reportedly died after her house collapsedRestoration work for power lines have started in several places of Jagatsinghpur Kendrapara and Jajpur districts after cables snapped Jena said adding that the storm will likely move to Jharkhand by midnightOdisha has shifted 58 lakh people to safer places and West Bengal 15 lakh ahead of the cyclone amid concerns over spread of Covid19 infection at the temporary shelters given the fact that the country is battling the raging second wave of the pandemicThe Bengal chief minister has claimed that her state is the worstaffected pointing out that three lakh houses and 134 embankments have been damaged due to the cycloneShe also said that one person who was initially rescued died accidentally laterAlso ReadOne crore people affected three lakh houses damaged due to cyclone Bengal CMBanerjee further stated that relief materials worth Rs 10 crore have been to the affected areasThe scenic town of Digha in East Midnapore which shares border with Balasore district of Odisha lay swamped with the Army being called in for rescue operations a defence official saidParts of the nearby tourist towns of Mandarmani Tajpur and Shankarpur were also inundated with seawaters entering the hotels and residential areas besides causing damage to kutcha shops and housesIn certain areas the waves were seen surging as high as the coconut trees that line the popular beachesA school situated along the coast in Shankarpur was washed away by the high and mighty sea wavesThe Army has deployed 17 columns in West Bengal to assist the administration the defence official saidRescue operation by the Army was also underway at Orphuli in the Howrah district he saidIn South 24 Parganas hundreds of villagers were displaced in Kakdwip Fraserganj Gosaba and the Sunderbans region as multiple homes were extensively damaged in the surging water and gale winds officials saidSeveral rivers were in spate owing to the phenomenal rise in water level caused by the dual effect of storm surge and the astronomical tide due to the full moonFlooding was also reported from Sagar island at the confluence of Hooghly and Bay of BengalThe compound of muchrevered Kapil Muni Temple in Sagar Islands lay submerged as tidal waves as tall as five feet crashed over the boardwalksSome fishing boats and equipment were destroyed at harbours in Kakdwip leaving the fishermen devoid of their livelihoodWe will starve unless the government provides us with assistance said a hapless villager at Kakdwip as his boat lay ravaged in front of himThe Kolkata Port was on tenterhooks as Hooghly swelled to eight metres surpassing the heights of the external lock gate of the Haldia Dock System an official saidArmy National Disaster Response Force NDRF State Disaster Response Force NDRF and state police and civil defence volunteers were working roundtheclock to move people to safety the officials saidWaterlogging was also reported from certain lowlying areas of Kolkata with the authorities facing a tough time clearing the area due to high tide in Hooghly they saidThe weather office has predicted extremely heavy rainfall in East and West Midnapore districts and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Jhargram Bankura South 24 Parganas districts over the next 24 hoursHeavy rain will occur at isolated places in Purulia Nadia Murshidabad Purba Bardhaman Howrah Hooghly Kolkata North 24 Parganas Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts owing to the effect of Yaas the weather office saidIn Odisha a red warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall was issued in nine districtsHeavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy fall very likely to occur over the districts of Balasore Bhadrak Jajpur Kendrapada Jagatsinghpur Cuttack Mayurbhanj Keonjhar and Dhenkanal the weather office saidThe cyclone lay centred at about 15 kilometre west of Balasore at 130 pm with intensity of 100110 kmph gusting to 120 kmphIt would move northnorthwestwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm during the next six hours the weatherman saidJharkhand which is already on high alert continued evacuating lowlying areas during the day amid forecast that the cyclone would be hitting the state by midnight officials in Ranchi saidEvacuations are being carried out on warfooting in the vulnerable areas of East and West Singhbhum besides some other districts in view of the natural calamity Disaster Management Secretary Amitabh Kaushal told PTIEast Singhbhum West Singhbhum and SaraikelaKharsawan districts of the state are likely to experience very high seas with wind speed of 92117 kmph the weather office saidWe are ready to deal with the situation and have formed rescue teams Jharkhand DirectorGeneral of Police Neeraj Sinha statedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever