Extreme winds and heavy rain have reached eastern India and Bangladesh. Cyclone Amphan has killed at least 14 people, also exasperating efforts to fight Covid-19 in the two countries.
The massive storm, that came from the Bay of Bengal, reached land on Wednesday, unleashing its wrath on the region. Despite the precautions taken, the extremely bad weather has already inflicted massive damage.
The cyclone turned out to be even more powerful than expected, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, confirming that at least 10 people were killed across the state. Around half-a-million people were evacuated from the most dangerous areas before the storm arrived.
The bad weather comes on top of the coronavirus outbreak which is still raging in the affected countries. The deadly disease has killed over 3,800 people across India and Bangladesh.
“Area after area has been devastated. Communications are disrupted,” Banerjee stated. “We are facing greater damage and devastation than the Covid-19.”
Footage from Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal, shows truly apocalyptic pictures with overturned cars, fallen trees and electricity poles.
Power supply has been down in parts of the city.
Many areas of the city have been partially flooded.
In India’s eastern neighbor, Bangladesh, at least four people have been killed by the cyclone so far. Some 2.4 million people were moved to storm shelters earlier this week, and the cyclone is expected to cause massive damage to the country’s infrastructure and agriculture.
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