Kolkata: No cyclone ever passed by without any devastation. So did Yaas, but fortunately for the people of West Bengal, the degree of wreckage was far lesser than the imprint of Amphan in the same month last year.
So far the death figure because of the ghastly tempest this year was reported at three— two in Hooghly and one in Asansol in West Burdwan district of West Bengal. During the shattering Amphan cyclone last year the death figure was reported as above 80.
However, things could have been worse as Yaas was supplemented by a high tide as well as some three localised tornadoes since Tuesday.
These localised tornadoes were reported from Halisahar in the North 24 Parganas district, as well as Chinsurah and Bandel in Hooghly districts in South Bengal. However, the impact of the tornadoes was nominal.
West Bengal’s maverick chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, who had spent sleepless Tuesday night at the central control room at the state secretariat of Nabanna, had already announced compensation for the families killed in this natural catastrophe.
She will be taking an aerial tour of the worst affected places in the coastal districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore on Friday, March 28, 2021.
At the same time, on Saturday, she will also hold an administrative meeting at East Midnapore, the overall worst affected district in the state.
The chief minister also announced that besides compensation to the families killed, the losses accrued by the farmers because of the interloping of saltwater in their farmlands will be compensated by the crop insurance scheme, premiums for which are entirely borne by her government.
On Wednesday morning, Mamata Banerjee said that 11 lakhs of people in West Bengal had been evacuated and shifted to different flood centres.
Read: Cyclone Yaas Live: IMD suggests fishermen to not venture in sea
A minister of the state government confirmed that by evening the total number of evacuated people has increased to 15 lakhs.
“Although the exact number of houses damaged cannot be assessed as of now, we apprehend the number to be nothing less than five to six lakhs,” the member of the state cabinet said on strict condition of anonymity.
He said that the total number of people affected in the state is to the tune of around one crore.
Meanwhile, sources from the West Bengal state secretariat said that several villages in the East Midnapore district are already submerged and the state government is making all possible attempts to rescue and evacuate the people from those places to safer destinations.
However, the extent of damage is yet to be ascertained and the process of assessing that will be completed within the next couple of days following which the state government will announce its future course of action.
Read: Cyclone Yaas rips through southern West Bengal
Meanwhile, as per the report of the Met department, Yaas has subsequently lost its strength on early Wednesday evening and its classification has been changed from “very severe cyclonic storm” to “severe cyclonic storm.”
The wind speed is slowing down further and expected to leave Odisha with a much lesser strength to Jharkhand by this midnight.
