Dhaka (Bangladesh): A tropical storm that lashed Bangladesh left at least 24 people dead and about 8 million without power across the delta nation, officials and news reports said Tuesday. The government said about 10,000 homes were damaged and more than 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of crops were destroyed. Thousands of fishing projects were also washed away.
The United News of Bangladesh news agency said about 20,000 people were marooned because of flooding triggered by tidal surges in the southern coastal district of Bhola.
Tropical Storm Sitrang brewed in the Bay of Bengal before turning north toward Bangladesh’s vast coast, prompting authorities to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people to cyclone shelters Monday. Heavy rains battered the country throughout the day, flooding many areas in the coastal regions across southern and southwestern Bangladesh.
The storm weakened Tuesday afternoon, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour and wind gusts up to 85 kph (53 mph). The weather office in the capital, Dhaka, which had recorded gusts up to 88 kph (55 mph) Monday evening, said the danger had passed.
No flooding or major damage was reported in camps housing about 30,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char island and another 1 million in Cox’s Bazar district, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Meanwhile, more than 500 houses were damaged in Tripura while one person was injured after cyclone Sitrang hit the state on October 24. A detailed report from State Emergency Operation Centre has said that more than 50 electric polls have been damaged while many trees were uprooted and fell on electric polls, and on many houses. The report said that the Sepahijala district of the state which shares the international border with Bangladesh has been affected badly.
In the North district of the state 26 houses were partly damaged, in Gomati 40 houses were damaged partly while 4 houses were damaged severely, in Sepahijala 154 houses party damaged while 52 houses were severely damaged and 7 houses were fully damaged.
In the South district, 24 villages were affected of which 29 houses were partly damaged while 6 were fully and 3700 population affected, in Khowai 2 houses were fully damaged, 7 houses were severely, and 5 houses were partly damaged. The report has also informed that all the rivers of the state are flowing below the danger level. Meanwhile, the Metrological department has said that a generally cloudy sky with light rain is very likely to occur in some areas of the state and maximum and minimum temperatures are very likely to be around 28 and 21 degree Celsius.
