Amphan inflictsmassive damage
FROM PAGE 1
The Cyclone made landfall on the Digha coast in India on Wednesday afternoon, ravaging parts of West Bengal. It then moved towards Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon, lashing the Sundarbans in its path. It claimed at least 72 lives in West Bengal.
Talking to The Daily Star, Shah Kamal, senior secretary at disaster management and relief ministry, said they succeeded in keeping the casualty and damages to a minimum though Amphan was an extremely severe cyclone.
“We had formed a coordination committee comprising public representatives and members of the armed forces to face the natural disaster.
“We have once again proved that Bangladesh is a role model in tackling any natural disaster.”
The cyclone hit 26 districts, of which three to four were very badly affected, he added.
More than 24 lakh people were moved to 14,636 permanent and temporary shelters in 19 coastal districts before the cyclone hit the country’s coast.
DEATHS
At least 12 people were killed and three others injured as the cyclone battered the coastal districts on Wednesday evening.
Of the dead, two drowned and five were killed as trees fell on them.
The deaths were reported from Kalapara and Galachipa upazilas of Patuakhali; Charfashion and Borhanuddin upazilas of Bhola, Mathbaria and Indurkani upazilas of Pirojpur, Sadar upazila in Satkhira, Chowgachha upazila of Jashore and Sadar upazila in Jhenidah.
TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION
Amphan totally or partially damaged 82,000 homesteads in Khulna division and another 60,000 in Barisal division. It caused tidal surges that that washed away several embankments in low-lying coastal areas.
Our correspondents from the two divisions reported that the cyclone rendered tens of thousands of people homeless, destroying thatched houses and uprooting trees.
Abdur Rakib from Dakkhin Shakuchia village in Bhola’s Manpura Upazila said he and his family members spent Wednesday night at a cyclone centre.
When he returned home yesterday morning, he found that it had gone under water.
“We are yet to get any assistance,” Rakib told this newspaper yesterday afternoon.
Another affected villager, Monsur Gazi, from Shyamnagar in Satkhira used to run a small grocery shop.
He along with his family members took refuge in a nearby cyclone shelter, and spend Wednesday night there.
Yesterday morning, he went out of the shelter to check on his shop.
To his dismay, Monsur found that his grocery shop was completely destroyed by the cyclone. His house was also damaged.
“I used to run my family with the earnings from this small shops. But now everything is gone. I don’t know how we will survive,” he said.
According to sources at Khulna Divisional Commissioner’s Office, 5.80 lakh people were affected in the three worst-hit districts -- Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat.
More than 32 km of embankments were partially damaged and 133 villages went under water in the three districts due to heavy rains and tidal surges. Besides, mangoes worth Tk 150 crore were damaged in Khulna Division.
Over 10,000 shrimp enclosures were washed away in Satkhira, Bagerhat and Khulna, according to fisheries offices in the districts.
Md Anwar Hossain Hawlader, commissioner of Khulna Division, said they were yet to complete the assessment of the damage
“We are getting data from the district and upazila levels and are still assessing it. We have not yet received information from some remote areas such as Dakkhin Bedkashi in Koyra upazila.”
The commissioner said they were trying their best to provide assistance to the affected people in the region.
Barishal Divisional Commissioner Yamin Chowdhury said onrushing water damaged protection embankments and flooded some areas in four districts.
Around six lakh people were affected and 60,000 houses were fully and partially damaged in the division, said officials.
In Bhola, two km of the embankment in Manpura Upazila was damaged and 20 villages were flooded, Mohammed Masud Alam Siddique, deputy commissioner of the district.
Moreover, 4.81 lakh people were affected and more than 10,000 houses were fully or partially damaged in Patuakhali.
Eight km of embankments were also damaged, said Md Matiul Alom Chowdhury, deputy commissioner in the district.