If you are done with Tik-Tok vs Youtube, roasting someone on social media, defaming people, putting false allegations and more. Then can we please concentrate on things that are more important? Here’s a Cyclone Amphan update for you- it made landfall in West Bengal and Odisha. But have a look around- it seems that we are least concerned with that.
Now that you are here, let’s take a look on all important Cyclone Amphan updates:
Imagine on hot day there is a sight of dark clouds forming. Along with it, a light drizzle and strong winds- it feels good, right? Same was the case in West Bengal. There was a sight of dark cloud formation along with little drizzle and strong winds. But the fear that was looming on them was large and inexplicable. That was the fear of Cyclone Amphan and people are still reeling from its effects.
Cyclone Amphan Update
Cyclone Amphan began hitting the Sundarbans, a mangrove area around the India-Bangladesh border home to four million people on Wednesday afternoon i.e. on 20th May 2020, before carving north and north-eastwards towards Kolkata, a historic city that was the capital of the British Raj and widely known as Calcutta.Parts of West Bengal and Orissa (also known as Odisha) states in India, and areas in south-west Bangladesh, bore the brunt, with winds gusting up to 185km/h.
Three districts in West Bengal – South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore – were very badly hit.
Devastation:
In India at least 72 people have died and 12 deaths have been confirmed in Bangladesh. There are sights of uprooted traffic lights in flooded streets, as well as river jetties torn apart and vehicles crushed under fallen trees.
One person residing the affected area had said: “Thank God, we are safe,”
And yet another said that ,”It is like the vault of hell outside. “The apartment building seemed to be “swaying from side to side, mimicking an earthquake”, he said.
Most people were at home when the storm struck. Kolkata and the rest of India is in lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dealing with two disasters:
These places are dealing with the conjunction of the two disasters – Covid-19 and Cyclone Amphan and there will be really challenging recovery from both of these which will take a little longer. They have been dealing with electricity crisis as well. All lines have been snapped. Mobile networks are also very patchy. It’s like they have been cut off from civilization as per a resident. It has damaged the natural habitation as well.
And apart from that, the Sundarbans are the largest mangrove forest in the world and are located in the delta of the Ganga, the largest in the world. The area is home to Bengal tigers and saltwater crocodiles among other species. “Since we have no way to monitor the wild animals, they will suffer the most,” the Chief Conservator of Forest, Sundarbans Tiger Reserve (STR), said.
Vulnerable people were evacuated from the coastal and forest areas ahead of the cyclone. However, there has been very less information about wildlife.
The fate of wild animals found in the Sundarbans in the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan remains uncertain and they would have suffered the most, forest officials have said.
So, let’s just pray for the affected one’s and stand with them in this hour of need. Everyone is battling but we are at home but the Cyclone Amphan led damage has led people to lose their homes as well.
You can help the affected people by donating to the West Bengal State Emergency Relief Fund by clicking here.
-Megha Gupta
Read more about us here.
Sign up to our newsletter. (Promise we won't spam)