Cyclone Amphan Badly Damages Parts of Sundarbans

Super Cyclone Amphan devastated West Bengal and Bangladesh's coastal region and heavily destroyed areas of the Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Area.

Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, extends across India and Bangladesh and is renowned for its rare flora and fauna.

West Bengal's principal chief conservator of forests and wildlife Ravi Kant Sinha said the cyclone has already started hitting the forest areas.

“A few of our locations are badly damaged, very high speed winds and water has entered our locations," Sinha said, reports CNN.

In a tweet from the Indian Met Office, the Super Cyclone 'Amphan' reached the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast as a rather strong cyclone storm with a pace of 155-165 km/h gusting over Sundarbans to 185 km/h.

The cyclone has already hit the coastal district of Khulna with strong winds and heavy rainfall. Three deaths were reported from the coastal districts. One of the victims was a Bangladesh Red Crescent volunteer, the organization said.

Images posted on Twitter by ANI showed uprooted trees and damage caused by the cyclone.

“West Bengal: Streets in Kolkata waterlogged, trees uprooted and houses damaged due to strong winds and heavy rain as #Amphan crossed West Bengal-Bangladesh coast between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) across Sunderbans, between 1530 and 1730 hrs today,” ANI tweeted.

Source: UNB