DHAKA, Bangladesh — A cyclone flooded coastal villages, swept away thatched roofs and left hundreds of thousands of people without power on Monday in southern Bangladesh and eastern India. At least seven deaths were reported.
Dozens of Bangladeshi villages were inundated after flood protection embankments were washed away or damaged by storm surge, television stations reported. Nearly 800,000 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas of Bangladesh on Sunday.
Authorities have not yet provided casualty figures, but Dhaka-based Somoy TV reported that at least seven people were killed. Two other people were missing on a boat that capsized, the station said.
In the Indian state of West Bengal, roofs were blown off thatched houses while electricity poles and trees were uprooted in some coastal districts. There were no immediate reports of deaths. Heavy rains also flooded streets and homes in low-lying areas of the city of Kolkata.
Cyclone Remal weakened considerably after making landfall in Bangladesh’s Patuakhali district early in the morning with sustained winds of 111 kph (69 mph). The Dhaka Meteorological Department said winds were now at 90 kilometers per hour (56 mph) with gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph).
The India Meteorological Department said Remal was likely to weaken further throughout the day. It warned of heavy rain over Assam and other northeastern states for the next two days.
Kolkata airport reopened after being closed on Sunday, and Bangladesh closed the airport in the southeastern city of Chattogram and canceled all domestic flights to and from Cox’s Bazar. Loading and unloading at the Chittagong seaport was stopped and more than a dozen ships were moved from the jetties to the deep sea as a precautionary measure.
Volunteers helped hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi evacuees move to up to 9,000 cyclone shelters. All schools in the region remained closed until further notice.
Remal was the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal ahead of this year’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September.
India’s coasts are often hit by cyclones, but changing weather patterns have increased the intensity of storms, making preparations for natural disasters more urgent.
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