The cyclone Bulbul that hit the Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha left three people dead on Saturday evening, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said on Sunday. A total of 7,815 houses were damaged and 870 trees were uprooted along with 950 phone towers in the states due to the cyclone.
High winds with speed up to 80 kms in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas continue to rage even after the centre of the cyclone has moved to Bangladesh, said the Ministry.
One person in West Bengal died due to a tree fell on him while in Odisha, two persons died in Odisha Kendrapara district due to the effects of the Bulbul cyclone. One died while drowning and the other in a wall collapse case.
Four districts in Odisha were affected due to the cyclone that uprooted several trees and damaged roads as well as communication and power services, the Ministry told.
According to the Ministry, “The restoration work of power and telecommunication services has started in West Bengal where one ICDS centre based in Paschim Medinipur district also got damaged. Power line restoration is going on on a war footing basis in Odisha. More than 70 per cent connections are already restored and the remaining will be restored by today (Sunday) evening.”
It said that almost all the roads have been cleared of the fallen trees and the traffic flow was normal.
There is also an extensive damage to crops in Odisha the house and crop damage assessment was going on in the state.
In order to curb the effect of the Bulbul cyclone in the state, there are 20 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, six National Disaster Response Force and 226 Fire Services Teams engaged in the operation.