Cyclone Remal makes landfall in Bangladesh and India

Strong winds and heavy rain battered the coastal regions of Bangladesh and India as severe cyclone Remal made landfall late on Sunday.

Remal, the first cyclone of the year, started lashing Bangladesh’s southern coast of Mongla port and the adjoining Sagar Islands in India’s West Bengal state with wind speeds measuring up to 135 kmph, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Dozens of Bangladeshi coastal villages were flooded after flood protection embankments were either washed away or damaged by the force of the storm surges. While there are not yet any official figures for casualties, Dhaka-based Somoy TV reported that at least two people died.

The storm was forecast to weaken gradually into a cyclone over the course of Monday, and then move northeast and gradually weaken further, the IMD said in its latest weather update.

The landfall process began around 9pm local time in India on Sunday and continued for about five hours, the regional meteorological office in Kolkata said.

One person was killed in the city of Kolkata when concrete chunks fell on him during the peak of the storm, police said. Roofs of thatched huts were blown away while mud houses were flattened in the coastal areas of both countries as authorities waited to ascertain the full scale of losses.

Bangladesh moved about 800,000 people from the port areas of Mongla and Chittagong and nine coastal districts to storm shelters from Sunday morning. As many as 110,000 people were also taken to shelters in India.

India’s Kolkata airport was closed for the day on Monday, while Bangladesh shut down the airport in the southeastern city of Chattogram and canceled all domestic flights to and from Cox’s Bazar.

“Normal airport operations will resume from 9am,” said C Pattavi, the director of the Kolkata airport, adding that the airport’s operational areas were clear from waterlogging. Bangladesh also suspended loading and unloading in the country’s largest main seaport in Chittagong and moved more than a dozen ships from jetties to the deep sea as a precaution.

While early warnings and timely evacuations helped both countries avert major casualties from the storm, there was a heavy toll on power infrastructure.

Reports of at least 356 uprooted electricity poles and damage to scores of transformers were received during the first hour of the landfall process, said Arup Biswas, the minister for power in West Bengal government.

Authorities in Bangladesh shut down electricity supply to many areas in advance to avoid accidents while many coastal towns were left in the dark as fallen trees and broken lines disrupted supply, power ministry officials said.

“We have no electricity since night, my mobile battery will run out anytime. By the grace of Allah, the cyclone was not as violent as we thought,” said Rahat Raja, a resident in the coastal district of Satkhira in Bangladesh.

Dhaka set up nearly 8,000 cyclone shelters and mobilised 78,000 volunteers ahead of the storm while the Indian navy said it had kept ships, aircraft, divers and medical supplies on standby for deployment if required.

Additional reporting by agencies