Cyclone Remal updates: Cyclone weakens, to weaken further, says IMD

Cyclone Remal updates: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that Remal has weakened from a severe cyclonic storm to a cyclonic storm in the early hours of Monday, and is expected to gradually further from hereon.

“Severe Cyclonic Storm Remal over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal weakened into Cyclonic Storm at 0530 hrs of 27 May about 70 km northeast of Canning and 30 km westsouthwest of Mongla. The system is likely to gradually weaken further,” the weather department said in a post on Monday.

The department said that Remal (pronounced Re-mal) crossed the Bangladesh and the adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Islands and Khepupara between 10:30 pm of May 26 and 12:30 am of May 27. The speed of the severe cyclonic storm at that point was 110-120 kmph, gusting to 135 kmph.

The severe cyclonic storm lay centered at 4:30 am on Monday over Coastal Bangladesh and adjoining Coastal West Bengal.

As it moves north-northeastwards, Cyclone Remal is expected to weaken further in the next couple of hours, the IMD said.

CYCLONE REMAL IMPACT

Coastal India and Bangladesh were pounded by strong winds and heavy rain, which left millions without electricity. Many electricity poles were uprooted and transformers damaged in the first hour of the landfall process, said West Bengal power minister Arun Biswas. One person is reported to have been killed in Kolkata due to a mishap where concrete chunks fell on him.

Roofs of thatched huts were blown away, mud houses were flattened, said authorities from both the sides who were waiting to ascertain the full scale of losses.

Authorities moved as many as 110,000 people to shelters. The Indian Navy kept ships, aircraft, divers and medical supplies on standby for deployment.

More than 50 international and domestic flights were cancelled in Kolkata as the airport’s operational areas were inundated. Kolkata, lashed by heavy rains, witnessed waterlogging in many areas.

Moreover, Sundarbans’ river embankments sustained heavy damages with high tides breaching protective embankments at many places.