Amphan wreaks havoc on East Midnapore

Biswabrata Goswami

TAMLUK, 20 MAY: Amphan, meaning the sky in Thai, which barreled through the coastal blocks in East Midnapore before hurtling towards Bangladesh, has wreaked havoc across the coastal district, leaving at least two people dead, tonight.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale winds, damaged thousands of houses, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables mostly in Nandigram-I and II, Egra-I and II, Deshapran, Ramnagar-I and Contai blocks in East Midnapore.

This apart, hundreds of hectares of agricultural lands where aman crops were full grown stage across the district were flattened due to the impact of the severe storm. Betel vines and flower and vegetable cultivation were severely affected across the district.

According to the reports from Digha Development Authority, the sea beaches like Digha, Manadarmani and Tajpur were also affected. Several shops in Digha were damaged and high tidal waves flooded over 100 coastal villages in East Midnapore as well as Digha, affecting nearly 10,000 people and leaving thousands homeless.

Over 500 mud huts collapsed immediately after the impact of the cyclonic storm, rendering over 2,000 people homeless. The villagers have been shifted to relief camps set up by panchayats in Shankarpur, Deshpran, Tajpur, Khejuri and Kendamari in Nandigram.

Due to heavy rainfall, hundreds of acres of low-lying areas in the coastal belt have been inundated. Srikanta Jana, 47, a fisherman from the coastal village of Tajpur, about 10 km from Digha, said the sea began to swell since last night.

“There was chest-deep water in most parts of the village by 11 p.m. The winds were so strong that my hut collapsed in front of my eyes. We took shelter at a relief camp set up at a primary school in our village,” Jana said.

“Around 500 people from our village and neighbouring areas have taken shelter at the camp.”

Partha Ghosh, district magistrate, East Midnapore said, “It is too early to say anything about the damage. The NDRF teams are working at the vulnerable areas. They are mostly busy rescuing people from worst affected areas”.

Amphan : At a glance in Bengal

Extremely severe cyclone Amphan, packing winds of up to 190 kmph roared into the state on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain and leaving a trail of destruction that left at least twelve people dead. After making landfall at 2.30 pm between Digha in West Bengal and and Hatiya island in Bangladesh, cyclone Amphan cut a swathe through the coastal areas, flattening fragile dwellings, uprooting trees and electric poles. At least 6.58 lakh people were evacuated in West Bengal and Odisha before the cyclone struck. NDRF said that 20 teams of the federal disaster response force had already begun road clearing operations in Odisha, while the 19 units deployed in West Bengal were shifting people to safety.

Amphan : It took a slight un-predicted route while crossing the state after landfall.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed that the depression over the Bay of Bengal concentrated into a Cyclonic Storm during on Saturday evening and further intensified rapidly into a Severe Cyclonic Storm on Sunday morning and into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm on Sunday evening.

As per the forecast, the system continued on its track of north-northwestwards till Sunday and then re-curved north-northeastwards from Monday to Wednesday. The IMD forecasts that the Cyclone Amphan is very likely to cross West Bengal–Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) during afternoon or evening hours of Wednesday, May 20, as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm.

The cyclone finally took a slight curve from the predicted route and crossed the districts like Hooghly and Nadia.