Staff Reporter:
Heavy rains and strong wind brought by Cyclone Remal have lashed the coastal districts in Bangladesh, leaving at least eight people dead, flooding villages and uprooting trees.
Among the deceased, three died in Bhola, two each in Barishal and Patuakhali, and one in Satkhira districts on Sunday night and Monday.
In Bhola, three people, including a woman and a child, died during heavy rains influenced by the cyclone.
According to the control room of local administration, Maneja Khatun, 50, died when a house collapsed on her at Char Umed union in Lalmohan upazila on Monday morning.
Raisa, 3, of Daulatkhan municipality, and Jahangir, 50, of Chachra union in Borhanuddin upazila, were also killed during the storm.
Bhola Deputy Commissioner Arifuzzaman said the local administration is working to estimate the damage caused by the storm.
Power supply to the district remained suspended since Sunday, disrupting mobile network and internet service.
A number of trees and electric poles were uprooted while many thatched houses were damaged during the storm.
Besides, Dhal Char, Char Kukrimukri, and Monpura in Charfesson upazila went under 4/5 feet of water, leaving over 25,000 people marooned.
In Barishal, two people died and another was injured when a portion of the roof of a multistorey building collapsed on a tin-roofed hotel in Barishal’s Rupatali area amid heavy rain caused by Cyclone Remal early Monday.
The victims were identified as hotel owner Lokman Hossain and his employee Moksedur Rahman.
In Satkhira, another man died while going to a shelter during the storm in Shyamnagar upazila on Sunday evening.
The deceased was Shawkot Hossain Morol, 65, a resident of Napitkhali village under Gabura union of the upazila.
In Patuakhali, a fisherman was found dead, an hour after he was swept away by tidal surges caused by Cyclone Remal on Sunday afternoon in Kalapara upazila.
The deceased was Sharif, 24, of the Anantapara area in the upazila.
Besides, Karim Ali Khan, 65, of Bauphal upazila, was killed when a house collapsed on him around 6am on Monday.
Sunit Kumar Gain, officer-in-charge of Bauphal police station, confirmed the news of death.
The violent storm disrupted power supply to southern districts, leaving over two crore people without power since Sunday night.
Power supply to 2.22 crore consumers – out of 3.58 crore – of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), has been suspended following the landfall of the cyclone on Sunday, according to a BREB official.
He said mainly the power transmission was halted to those cyclone-hit areas as part of a cautionary measure to avoid any accident.
According to a primary report received from Bagerhat, the cyclone has damaged homes, uprooted trees, broken electric poles and severed power lines, leaving nearly 500,000 residents without electricity since Sunday night.
Embankments in several areas were breached, inundating villages with tidal waters.
Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner Md Khalid Hossain confirmed the preliminary data, indicating that 10,000 families have been stranded and 45,000 homes have been destroyed.
In Khulna, over 100 shrimp enclosures in Koyra, Dakop, and Paikgacha upazilas were washed away by tidal surges.
Besides, at least 30 villages were inundated after the collapse of embankments in nine places in these upazilas.
Bangladesh has evacuated more than 800,000 people from the coastal regions.
Meanwhile, severe Cyclonic Storm Remal, which made landfall on Bangladesh’s coast on Sunday night, moved northwards and weakened into a cyclonic storm and further weakened into a land deep depression over Jashore and adjoining area, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).
It is likely to move northeastwards further and weaken into a land depression by giving precipitation, the BMD said in its special bulletin.
Maritime ports of Payra and Mongla have been advised to lower danger signal 10 but instead hoist local cautionary signal three.
Maritime ports of Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram have been advised to lower danger signal nine but instead hoist local cautionary signal three.
