WUNRN
BANGLADESH - A woman crosses a bamboo made bridge over a
breached dam caused by cyclone Aila in Shatkhira June 4, 2009. Thousands of
people have been displaced by a huge tidal wave caused by cyclone Aila on May
25. Survivors are suffering due to scarcity of food and drinking water.REUTERS/Andrew Biraj (BANGLADESH DISASTER IMAGES OF THE DAY
ENVIRONMENT)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090526/wl_nm/us_cyclone_bangladesh
CYCLONE AILA DESTROYS & KILLS IN BANGLADESH, INDIA
By Anis Ahmed Anis Ahmed – May 26,
2009
DHAKA
(Reuters) – Nearly 200 people have been killed by a cyclone that ripped through
Bangladesh and eastern India, while
millions remained marooned by floodwater or forced to live in shelters.
The
death toll in Bangladesh rose to more than 130 following recovery of dozens of
bodies Tuesday, newspapers and private television channels said, while Indian
officials said at least 64 people had died in West Bengal state.
Cyclone
Aila slammed into parts of coastal Bangladesh and eastern India Monday,
triggering tidal surges and flooding that forced people from their homes.
Officials
in both countries said they feared the death tolls would rise although
relief and rescue efforts were being intensified.
"Millions
of people have been affected by the cyclone, with half a million in shelters
and another half a million forced from their homes or were marooned," a
disaster control official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters in
Dhaka.
Officials
in Bangladesh moved about 500,000 people to temporary shelters after they left
their homes to escape huge tidal waves churned by winds up to 100 kph (60 mph).
Heavy rain
triggered by the storm also raised river levels and burst mud embankments in
the Sundarbans delta in the neighboring eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
"So
far, we have got reports of 64 deaths in the state, including nine deaths in
landslides in the Darjeeling hills on Tuesday," West Bengal's chief
secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters in Kolkata.
In
Bangladesh, the worst affected area was the Satkhira
district, near the port of Mongla, where a local official
said 31 bodies were found in one village.
"The
situation here is alarming," Mohammad Abdus Samad, deputy
commissioner of Satkhira, told Reuters by telephone.
CROPS
DAMAGED
Large
areas of crops were destroyed in both countries by the cyclone, officials said,
adding they were assessing the damage.
Many
farmers have lost their rice just ready to be harvested. "Allah has taken
it all from me. I have been made a pauper," said Mohar Ali, a farmer.
Aila
swept many areas still recovering from Cyclone Sidr in November 2007, which
killed 3,500 people in Bangladesh and made at least a million homeless.
Bangladesh
officials said at least 100 people were missing after Monday's cyclone.
Some
aid workers said they feared several hundred people might have been killed by
Aila, which followed the less lethal Cyclone Bijli that killed a only few
people in April.
Army,
navy and coastguards were helping civil officials and volunteers to search for
the missing and pick up people marooned in hundreds of villages, caught in
chest or shoulder-high waters, witnesses said.
"Continuing
rain and wind have slowed our efforts," one official said.
Bangladesh's
food and disaster management minister, Abdur
Razzaque, who visited some of the battered areas Tuesday, said authorities were
trying to bring the marooned families to safety and provide them food and
shelter.
Witnesses
said many cyclone survivors faced a shortage of food and drinking water in
areas still under storm surge.
In
West Bengal, the Indian army and
government aid workers Tuesday began an operation to provide relief to more
than 400,000 people marooned in the Sundarbans delta region.
"We
have moved two columns, each with 100 personnel, to Sundarbans
for relief," said Mahesh Upasani, a defense spokesman.
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