Remal leaves trail of havoc in its wake
Cyclone Remal has killed at least 13 people, destroyed more than 35,000 homes, and seriously affected more than 37 lakh people in 19 districts.
The storm, which made landfall near Khepupara of Patuakhali with wind speeds of up to 130kmph Sunday evening, turned into a deep depression yesterday and was moving north-eastwards.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
The cyclone left behind a trail of destruction -- breached embankments, inundated neighbourhoods, and uprooted trees -- in 19 coastal districts of Barishal, Khulna, and Chattogram divisions.
Around 2.7 crore people were without power in Barishal and Khulna divisions, which caused around 15,000 cell towers to go offline.
It destroyed crops, vegetables, and fruits, and damaged fish farms, said officials concerned. They said Remal destroyed fish worth Tk 482 crore in three districts alone.
Khitish Golder, a UP member of Tildanga union of Khulna's Dacope upazila, said, "All houses in our village are under saline water as the storm surges breached the embankment along the Dhaki river. Five villages in the union were inundated. More than a hundred families are now on the embankment.
"The embankment breached at five places, flooding all fish enclosures," he told The Daily Star.
He said their attempts to plug the breaches failed when the water level rose further as Remal made landfall.
At least 37.58 lakh people in 19 coastal districts have been affected by the cyclone, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mohibbur Rahman told a press briefing yesterday afternoon.
As many as 35,483 houses were destroyed and 1,14,992 houses were damaged in 107 upazilas, he said.
"People's daily life has been disrupted. There was waterlogging at places due to the rain continuing," he added.
He claimed that they were successful in dealing with the cyclone.
Remal caused heavy rains across the country. The dwellers of Chattogram experienced the highest, 235mm, rainfall as of 6:00pm yesterday. Parts of the city were waterlogged.
The Met office said Remal will continue to cause rain today as well.
13 DEAD
The cyclone claimed 13 lives in seven coastal districts over the two days. Eight died yesterday and the rest on Sunday.
In Patuakhali, two people were killed, said local government officials concerned. A 70-year-old man died after a tree fell on his tin-roofed house in Nolduani of Dumki upazila yesterday morning. Another died when an abandoned two-storey corrugated iron-sheet house collapsed on him in Bauphal upazila around noon yesterday.
In Bhola, three people were killed. Two people died after trees fell on them in Borhanuddin and Daulatkhan upazilas, said the disaster management ministry, adding that another person died in Lalmohon upazila after a house collapsed.
In Barishal, two people were killed. One died after a wall fell on him at a filling station in the city, while the other was killed when a tree fell on him in Bakerganj upazila, said the ministry's report.
In Chattogram, two people were killed. A man died after a wall collapsed on him in the city, while a young man drowned in Kalabagicha canal in Chattogram city yesterday afternoon. Waterlogging in the city has made it very difficult to identify where the canals are.
In Cumilla, a fifth grader died inside his classroom when a portion of an adjacent under-construction building collapsed on the tin-roofed classroom around 11:30am in the city's Shaktola area, said police.
In Khulna, a young man was killed on Sunday night after a tree fell on his house in Gariardanga of Batiaghata upazila, said police.
On Sunday, two people were killed in Satkhira and Patuakhali.
OUT OF POWER
Major parts of the southern districts were without power for more than 36 hours.
According to Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), 2.70 crore people had no power between Sunday morning and 6:00pm yesterday.
The prolonged outage took out over 15,000 mobile phone towers (base transceiver stations), disrupting mobile and internet services.
Sources in the carriers said in some districts there was no power supplied to the towers since Sunday afternoon.
People in Barguna, Barishal, Patuakhali, Noakhali, Chattogram, and Khulna were affected, they said.
Comments