At least 10 killed in super cyclone Amphan in eastern India state: official

NEW DELHI - Chief Minister of India's eastern state of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee Wednesday night said at least 10 to 12 people were killed in super cyclone Amphan.

The deaths, according to officials, have been caused due to uprooting of trees, collapsing of houses and other falling structures.

"Districts like North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Kolkata, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, even Puruli Bankura have been affected by Amphan," Banerjee said while speaking to media at state secretariat.

"The whole of South Bengal has been affected. We are shocked. It will take three to four days to assess the damage done."

Cyclone Amphan made landfall in coastal areas of West Bengal at around 2:30 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

According to the India Metrological Department, the very severe cyclonic storm Amphan crossed West Bengal-Bangladesh coast with wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.

Banerjee said even the state secretariat building has suffered major damages, adding communications have snapped in most of the places. There was no drinking water, the electricity has been snapped and bridges have been cut off in several areas.

A number of embankments were breached in coastal areas and low lying areas were flooded in several areas in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts.

The local government has evacuated half a million people from the affected areas to relief shelters. Over 158,000 people were also evacuated in the adjacent Odisha state.

Amphan is reported to be one of the worst storms over the Bay of Bengal in years. Video footage on television shows huge tidal waves crashing into beaches and coastline, besides heavy rain lashing the areas.

Authorities have deployed 41 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in West Bengal and Odisha.

Amphan comes at a time when India is fighting COVID-19, which has infected at least 106,750 people in the country and killed 3,303.