Bhubaneswar: As cyclone ‘Amphan’ hurtled towards the coast, heavy downpour coupled with high velocity winds pounded coastal West Bengal and Odisha, killing 12, uprooting trees and flattening fragile structures.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today expressed anguish at the loss of lives due to cyclone Amphan and appreciated the administrative machinery of West Bengal and Odisha for ensuring timely evacuation of people.
The extremely severe cyclone ‘Amphan’ has left at least 12 people dead and ravaged Kolkata and several parts of West Bengal.
“Deeply anguished by the loss of lives and devastation caused to crops and public & private properties by Amphan cyclone in West Bengal and Odisha,” the Vice President’s Secretariat tweeted quoting Naidu.
More than 1.25 lakh people have so far been evacuated from low-lying coastal areas and the process of evacuation was still underway in some places like Balasore on Wednesday morning, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), P K Jena, said
Intense rainfall was recorded in several areas of Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Ganjam, Ganjam, Bhadrak and Balasore districts since Tuesday, officials said.
While a thorough assessment of damage caused by the cyclone will be made, there are reports of many trees being uprooted from different areas including Erasama and Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.
Many betel vines have also been damaged in Dhinkia area of Jagatsinghpur district, the SRC said, adding response teams have been deployed in all the coastal districts to ensure quick restoration of power and road communication wherever they suffer damage.
