Cyclone lashes Bangladesh killing 9, flooding low-lying areas By Reuters

By Ruma Paul

DHAKA (Reuters) – A cyclone roared into the Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, killing not less than 9 folks, destroying homes, uprooting timber and disrupting highway, energy and communication hyperlinks, officers mentioned.

Mass evacuations earlier than Cyclone Sitrang made landfall on the west coast helped save lives however the full extent of the casualties and injury would solely be identified after communications are restored, they mentioned.

The cyclone barrelled in from the Bay of Bengal early within the day with winds gusting as much as 88 kph (55 mph) and a storm surge of about 3 m (10 ft) that flooded low-lying coastal areas.

Energy and phone hyperlinks have been largely lower and coastal areas plunged into darkness, officers mentioned.

The general public killed had been crushed by falling timber.

No main injury was reported in refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh, the place greater than 1,000,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar reside in flimsy shelters.

Officers suggested practically 33,000 Rohingya refugees who’ve moved from the camps to a flood-prone island within the Bay of Bengal to remain indoors.

Heavy rain fell on the streets of the capital, Dhaka, inflicting some flooding and disruption to commuters.

The cyclone additionally affected the japanese Indian state of West Bengal.

South Asia has skilled rising excessive climate in recent times inflicting large-scale injury. Environmentalists warn that local weather change may result in extra disasters, particularly in locations like densely populated Bangladesh.

Farah Kabir, Bangladesh nation director of ActionAid group, mentioned 2022 had seen local weather emergencies corresponding to floods and droughts “on a scale that has by no means been witnessed earlier than”.

“The local weather disaster is rising, and right here in Bangladesh we really feel its ferocity,” he mentioned.

“When excessive climate occasions like Cyclone Sitrang strike, communities are left devastated. We urgently want entry to funds that help communities dwelling by means of the fact of the local weather disaster.”