Cyclone Amphan to Hit West Bengal & Odisha Today
The extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’ is about to hit parts of West Bengal and Odisha.
The Cyclone Amphan will reach West Bengal, Odisha today, and Bangladesh. The cyclone will cause heavy rain. Earlier the wind speed of the cyclone was over 220km/hr but now it has reduced and the speed is between 160-220km/hr. Such a severe cyclone was last seen in Odisha in 1999. It had killed nearly 10,000 people. Officials say the Cyclone Amphan will cause severe destruction to trees and buildings.
The NDRF have already sent 15 teams to West Bengal and 15 teams to Odisha. They are working to evacuate people from coastal areas to safe places. 3 lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas in West Bengal.
NDRF Chief S N Pradhan said, “It is for the first time that we are having to face two disasters simultaneously. We are facing a dual challenge of ‘cyclone in the time of Covid-19’. We are taking action according to the enormity of this challenge” Evacuation is being done by following social distancing rules. Usually an evacuation centre can hold 1,000 people but now it can only hold 500 people as everyone needs to maintain safe physical distancing.
