Bangladesh evacuated nearly half a million people to emergency shelters on the southwest coast [AFP]
Bangladesh evacuated nearly half a million people to emergency shelters on the southwest coast [AFP]
Bangladesh evacuated nearly half a million people to emergency shelters on the southwest coast [AFP]
Thousands of people in the Indian state of West Bengal were left homeless after rivers burst their banks amid heavy rain on Monday.
At least 17 people have been killed after a cyclone hit coastal areas of eastern India and Bangladesh, triggering widespread floods.
"The situation is very grave, countless families have been displaced, especially in the Sundarbans," Kanti Ganguly, the state minister for the Sundarbans region of West Bengal, said.
At least 10 people died in West Bengal as houses collapsed and trees were felled by the storm, officials said.
Heavy rains caused flooding across Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, as winds of up to 100kph brought down trees and communication lines.
"Our village is submerged, we are living in camps and have no clue what further calamity awaits us," Anil Krishna Mistry, a villager, told Reuters by telephone from Bali in the Sundarbans.
Bangladesh hit
In Bangladesh, at least seven people were killed and thousands of homes were damaged by tidal waves triggered by the cyclone, officials said.
Most of the storm surges occurred in the Khulna district near the Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal.
"Thousands of families have been moved to shelters and many left on their own," Salahuddin Chowdhury, an official of the Cyclone Preparedness Centre in Chittagong, said.
The ports of Chittagong and Mongla were closed as the storm approached.
Cyclones and tropical storms are common in Bangladesh, killing many people in the delta nation of 150 million every year and causing huge damage to crops and property.
Cyclone Sidr swept parts of the Bangladesh coast in November 2007, killing about 3,500 people. A cyclone also killed about 140,000 people in April 1991.
Un ciclón tropical azotó las áreas costeras de Bangladesh e India, lo que ha causado severas inundaciones. Según cifras oficiales, hay al menos 17 muertos y miles de damnificados.

Se registraron vientos de hasta 100 km/h en Calcuta, en la provincia india de Bengala Occidental, que arrancaron árboles de raíz y destruyeron las líneas de comunicación.



"La situación es muy grave, muchas familias han quedado desplazadas, especialmente en el delta de Sundarbans", declaró Kanti Ganguly, ministro de estado para la región de Sundarbans en Bengala Occidental.

El tránsito aéreo en Calcuta ha sido suspendido como resultado de las inclemencias del tiempo, por lo que varios vuelos hacia la ciudad fueron desviados a otros aeropuertos, mientras que se ha cancelado todo vuelo de salida desde el aeropuerto de la ciudad.

El Departamento Meteorológico de India anunció que el ciclón cederá en aproximadamente 24 horas. "Este no es un ciclón inusualmente fuerte y no estimamos que el daño sea extensivo", anunció el director general del departamento, Ajith Tyagi.