Amphan claims 12 lives in West Bengal 

The severe cyclonic storm Amphan on Wednesday claimed 10 to 12 lives in West Bengal of India, flattening houses and casting aside trees and electricity poles like matchsticks in six-and-a-half hours of monstrous fury that left Kolkata and most of south Bengal pulverized.

Before bearing down on West Bengal with wind speeds of up to 185kmph, it first cut a swathe through northern Odisha

While Odisha was spared the worst of Amphan, the Sunderbans region and six south Bengal districts felt the full impact of winds gusting at 155-165kmph along with torrential rain after Amphan made landfall near Sagar Island around 2.30pm and entered Kolkata, about a 100km north, around 5pm.

CM Mamata Banerjee said there were reports of “at least 10-12 deaths” and “untold devastation”, adding that it would take a few days to assess the extent of the damage and destruction. One of the deaths was reported in Howrah’s Shalimar and two more in North 24-Parganas. The cyclone also razed to the ground many buildings in the south Bengal.

Mobile and broadband networks went on the blink while many blink while many Kolkata neighbourhoods were without power till late in the night. Transformer fires were reported across the city.

(Source: The Times of India)