According to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, at least one crore people have been affected by the natural disaster, and three lakh homes have been damaged as of now due to the rough weather conditions brought on by Cyclone Yaas (May 26). She went on to say that one person died in an accident after being rescued. According to her, relief materials worth Rs 10 crore were sent to the affected areas.
The process has been completed by Cyclone Yaas, which made landfall near Dhamra port in Odisha on Wednesday morning, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
West Bengal:
A defence official said the resort town of Digha in East Midnapore, which shares a border with the Balasore district of Odisha, was completely flooded, prompting the Army to be called in for rescue operations. Seawaters flooded the nearby beach resorts of Mandarmani, Tajpur, and Shankarpur, flooding the hotels and flooding the roads, as well as causing damage to kutcha shops and houses. The waves broke over the tops of the coconut trees that line these popular beaches in some places.
The Army has deployed 17 columns in West Bengal to assist the state administration, the defence official said. Rescue operation by the Army was also on at Orphuli in the Howrah district, he said.
Many places in South 24 Parganas, including Kakdwip, Fraserganj, Gosaba, and Maipith in the Sunderbans region, were flooded, displacing lakhs of villagers and severely damaging thousands of kutcha houses, according to officials.
Several rivers in the riverine delta region were in floods as a result of the massive rise in water level caused by the combined effects of the cyclone’s storm surge and the full moon’s astronomical tide, they said.
Many places in South 24 Parganas, including Kakdwip, Fraserganj, Gosaba, and Maipith in the Sunderbans region, were flooded, displacing lakhs of villagers and severely damaging thousands of kutcha houses, according to officials.
Several rivers in the riverine delta region were in floods as a result of the massive rise in water level caused by the combined effects of the cyclone’s storm surge and the full moon’s astronomical tide, they said.
Odisha
As the two states battled the pandemic, reporting thousands of new cases daily, Odisha moved 5.8 lakh people to safer places and West Bengal moved 15 lakh people ahead of the cyclone, amid concerns about following COVID-19 norms at temporary shelters.
A person was killed after a tree fell on him in Panchupalli village in Anadapur block of Kenojhar district, according to local sources, but there was no official confirmation of the death. Purna Chandra Nayak was identified as the man. In addition, Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said a man was injured in the Balasore district after being hit by a falling tree.
The system lay centred at about 15 kilometre west of Balasore at 1.30 pm with intensity of 100-110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph. It would move north-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm during the next six hours, the weather office said.
Jharkhand
Jharkhand, which was already on high alert, continued to evacuate low-lying areas as the cyclone was expected to hit the state by midnight, according to officials in Ranchi.
In light of Yaas, Disaster Management Secretary Amitabh Kaushal told PTI that operations are being carried out on a war footing in vulnerable areas in East and West Singhbhum, as well as some other districts.
East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsawan districts of the state are likely to witness “very high seas” situation with wind speed of 92-117 kmph, the weather office said.
