The aftermath of severe cyclone Remal, which made landfall on the night of Sunday after crossing Bangladesh and the West Bengal coast, paints a grim picture in three coastal districts of the eastern Indian State. Tragically, two lives have been lost, and around 200,000 people have been displaced.
One victim, Md Sajid, aged 50, lost his life in Kolkata’s Entally locality when a concrete structure collapsed on him amidst the storm’s fury, with winds reaching speeds of 110-120 km per hour, peaking at 135 km per hour during landfall around 9:30 pm. Another casualty was an 80-year-old woman, Renuka Mondal, who was killed in Frazerganj, South 24 Parganas, when an uprooted tree fell on her.
The cyclone’s impact was felt severely between Sagar Islands in Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district and Khepupara in Bangladesh near Mongla, causing widespread destruction. Reports of damage poured in from areas such as Sagar Island, Diamond Harbour, Jharkhali, Hingalganj, and Sandeshkhali in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas.
Operations at Kolkata airport, shut down at noon on Sunday, resumed at 9 am on Monday, leading to the cancellation of 394 flights. Local train services from Kolkata also resumed at 9 am, according to an Eastern Railways official.
Efforts are underway to assess and address the damage, with authorities evacuating approximately 30,000 people in North 24 Parganas and over 150,000 people in South 24 Parganas to safer locations, including cyclone shelters.
While Kolkata received around 140mm of rainfall from Sunday morning until Monday morning, other regions also faced the brunt of the storm’s fury, with reports of uprooted trees, damaged houses, and disrupted infrastructure.
Although the storm has passed, strong winds continued to batter the region on Monday morning, with gusts recorded at 91 km per hour in Dum Dum, 78 km per hour in Canning (South 24 Parganas), and around 63 km per hour in Sagar Island.
As the cyclone moves through Bangladesh, areas such as Nadia and Murshidabad in West Bengal are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday. A red warning has been issued for these districts as the cyclone gradually loses strength.
