Over 4,000 houses, 6,000 hectares of crops damaged

At least four districts of Khulna division have been partially flooded, over 700 shrimp fields (gher) were washed away, over 2, 50,000 people were marooned, storm surge swamped embankments in low-lying coastal areas, officials in Khulna Divisional Commissioner Office said on Wednesday.

At least 1.75 lakh people of three districts have been affected by tidal waves following the impact of cyclone Sitrangin the coastal-belt of Khulna district, the officials said.

“Hundreds of shrimp ghers (enclosure) have been washed way, 3,270 mad houses, huge trees were uprooted and damaged, 1,624 houses were partially damaged and many villages were submerged by tidal surge of Sitrang,” the officials added.

Besides, one person was killed in Narail district during the cyclone Sitrang.

Khulna, Bagerhat, Magura and Narail District Administrations, Mongla Port Authority, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) of Mongla West Zone, Fire Service and Civil Defense are working to rehabilitate the affected people of the coastal areas.

As part of the immediate response, more than three lakhs people were successfully evacuated and moved them to nearby cyclone shelters in coastal districts before the cyclone Sitranghit in Khulna, Barishal and Chittagong division ,” said Khulna Divisional Commissioner Md Zillur Rahman Chowdhury.

While a thorough assessment of damage caused by the cyclone will be made, there are reports of many trees being uprooted from different coastal resorts including Dakop, Koyra and Paikgacha in Khulna, Shyamnagar, Ashashuni and Kaligang in Satkhira, Sharonkhola, Morelgang and Mongla in Bagerhat and other two districts in the division.

Around four to five feet high tidal surge due to impact of cyclonic storm Sitrang caused a "fear of a partial disaster is mostly over" he said, adding loss to lives and properties as the district administrations took appropriate precautionary measures to cope the disaster.

In some places, trees have been fallen and traffic movement has stopped. Raw-brick and kancha houses have been partially and fully damaged due to the tidal waves, the embankments in the lower reaches of Koyra and Dakop in Khulna and other upazilas in Satkhira and Bagerhat have been flooded, he added.

The storm Sitrang, however, claimed one life so far and injured some people in the coastal areas.