Cyclone Sitrang wreaks havoc in Bangladesh, kills nine

Dhaka: At least nine people were killed after a cyclone named ‘Sitrang’ wreaked havoc in Bangladesh’s west coast on Tuesday, causing disruptions in communication links. 

According to several media reports, about a million people were forced to evacuate from their homes before the cyclone slammed the area which prevented excessive casualties. While, nearly 10 million people were without power in 15 coastal districts, subsequently the coastal areas are in complete darkness.

Schools were shut across southern and southwestern regions, said officials.

The complete statistics of casualties and destruction would only be known after restoration of communication, authorities added. 

The cyclone hurled in from the Bay of Bengal with flurrying up winds to 88 kph (55 mph) and a storm flow of about 3 m (10 ft) that drowned low-lying coastline areas.  

Cyclones— equivalent of hurricanes in the Atlantic or typhoons in the Pacific— but experts say climate change is likely the major factor making them more intense and frequent. 

Climate change could lead to more calamities, especially in densely colonized places like Bangladesh, environmentalists.

Eastern Indian state of West Bengal is also affected by the cyclone. 

Bangladesh country director of ActionAid group Farah Kabir stated that climate emergencies such as floods and droughts have taken place in 2022 on a level that has never been seen before. 

"The climate disaster is rising, and here in Bangladesh we feel its ferocity," she stressed. 

Country’s local media reported that the cyclone caused heavy rain in southeastern parts of the neighbouring country. 

In the meantime, tens of thousands of volunteers have been mobilized for the rescue and rehabilitation efforts. 

In 2020, Cyclone ‘Amphan’, killed over 100 people in Bangladesh and India, affecting millions.

In 2021, more than a million people were evacuated along India's east coast before Cyclone ‘Yaas’ battered the area— equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. 

One of the world's worst natural disasters, ‘1970 Bhola cyclone’ killed several hundred thousand people in then known East Pakistan and India.