Cyclone Remal hits Bengal Coast, uproots trees and knocks down electric poles in several areas
Kolkata: The severe cyclonic storm Remal made its landfall between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal at midnight on Sunday. The landfall process began at 8:30 pm over the adjacent coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara.
Due to the impact of the cyclone, heavy rains lashed over several places that flooded homes and farmland, and left a trail of destruction.
During the landfall, winds gusted up to 135 kilometres per hour which led to flattened fragile dwellings, uprooted trees and knocked down electric poles. Reportedly, one person got injured after being hit by debris in the Gosaba area of the Sundarbans.
Notably, more than a lakh people were evacuation from vulnerable areas in West Bengal before the cyclone.
Informing about the cyclone Remal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “The Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Remal’ over the North Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwards, with a speed of 13 kmph during past 06 hours, crossed the Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal Coasts between Sagar Islands and Khepupara close to southwest of Mongla near Latitude 21.75°N and Longitude 89.2°E between 22:30 hrs IST of 26th May to 00:30 hrs IST of 27th May 2024 as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed of 110 to 120 Kmph gusting to 135 Kmph.”
“It lay centered at 01:30 hrs IST of today, the 27th May, 2024 over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal, near latitude 21.9°N and longitude 89,2°E about 115 km east of Sagar Islands (West Bengal), 105 km west-southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh), 70 km southeast of Canning (West Bengal) and SO km south-southwest of Mongla (Bangladesh), The system would continue to move nearly northwards for some more time and then north-northeastwards and weaken gradually into a Cyclonic Storm by morning of 27″ May 2024,” the weather department further added.
Furthermore, the Eastern and South Eastern Railways cancelled some trains, and the Kolkata airport suspended flight operations for 21 hours, affecting 394 flights. The flight operations are yet to be started.
