Two persons were electrocuted to death and 40 houses were damaged as a tornado struck Bengal ahead of the cyclone Yaas that is heading towards the East Coast of India.
The tornado lashed the Chinsura area in the Hooghly district of the state, as Cyclone Yaas is expected to make landfall on the Odisha coast, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
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The tornado lasted for barely a minute and a half but, destroyed as many as 40 houses, the Chief Minister said while pointing out that the tornado forced evacuations of several residents whoare being assisted by local panchayat members in shifting to a school building.
Highlighting efforts to face the incoming cyclone Yaas, Banerjee said 54,000 officers and relief workers, about two lakh police and Home Guard personnel, and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, were deployed to handle the aftermath of the storm.
“I have spoken to all district magistrates and I will stay in Nabanna (the state secretariat) to monitor the cyclone situation closely,” she said while noting that the impact of Cyclone Yaas will likely be worse than Cyclone Amphan that left a trail of destruction in the state last year.
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Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of rapid winds that can destroy houses, bend or uproot electric poles and disrupt railway services in coastal and adjoining interior districts of Bengal.
The cyclone is also expected to cause a storm surge of 2-4 metres along the coastline of Purba Medinipur and 1-2 metres in South 24 Parganas., the IMD stated. (AW)
