76 dead as Cyclone Amphan crosses Indian coast

‘Cyclone Amphan’ is believed to be one of the biggest cyclones that has hit Indian coasts in over two decades. The cyclone created havoc across West Bengal and Odisha. According to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, 76 people have died in various incidents across the state. 15 of them were from Kolkata. Three people died in Odisha. Thousands of houses were completely damaged in both the states. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the affected areas in both states in order to review the situation. Reportedly, the damage has been estimated to come over Rs one lakh crore.

Banerjee has said that a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh will be given to families of those who have been affected.

In Odisha and West Bengal, power supply was affected badly. Both the states witnessed heavy rainfall and floods too.

The six hour cyclone has flooded and damaged Kolkata airport, one of the biggest in India. Banerjee had earlier said that ‘Cyclone Amphan’ was a bigger threat to the state than Coronavirus. The cyclone has crossed the Indian coast and moved to Bangladesh now.

Reactions on social media

Many videos of buildings being destroyed and trees uprooted did the rounds on social media.

“#CycloneAmphan hitting Kolkata. Video via a friend living there. Prayers for the safety of all”, tweeted journalist Nistula Hebbar.

“As per reports, 2.7 million people were displaced in India due to climatic changes in year 2019; praying for safety of people of Odisha & Bengal and sincerely hope 2020 doesn’t get worse than this #CyloneAmphan”, tweeted Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill.

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