No more threat to West Bengal as Cyclone Fani reaches Bangladesh

The weakened cyclonic storm has crossed Kharagpur and is currently moving in the north-east direction with a wind speed of 90 km/hour.

Kharagpur: Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, reached Bangladesh on Saturday several hours after it unleashed a trail of massive destruction claiming at least 10 lives in Odisha from where it entered West Bengal late on Friday.

The severe cyclonic storm, which battered Odisha claiming at least 10 lives and unleashed a trail of destruction on its way, made landfall in West Bengal late on Friday. The cyclonic storm weakened into a cyclonic storm as it crossed Kharagpur and moved towards the north-east direction with a wind speed of 90 km/hour.

After entering Bengal, Fani lashed towns and cities including Digha, Haldia, Tajpur, Mandarmani, Sandehskhali, Contai, Diamond Harbour, Bankura, Sriniketan, Asansol, Dumdum and Alipore. Apart from Kharagpur and Kolkata, effects of the storm could also be felt in Burdwan district. Trees were uprooted, power and telecom lines snapped, metal hoardings gave away as the storm swept through Bengal.

Here are the live updates about Cyclone Fani:-

-Navy launches massive rescue and rehabilitation effort after Cyclone Fani batters Odisha. Tap to read

-CycloneFani has damaged 10,000 electric poles in Bhubaneswar affecting 30 lakh consumers; electricity supply will be restored in 25% area of the Capital city today, says State Energy Secretary Hemant Sharma.

-Indian Railways to run special trains to help passengers. Tap to read

-Four more persons dead in Jajpur due to Cyclone Fani, death toll reaches 15

-No more threat to West Bengal from Cyclone Fani as it has now reached Bangladesh.

-One more dead in Odisha's Bhadrak and one in Jajpur. The total count now stands at 12.

-IMD update: Severe Cyclone Fani weakened into a cyclonic storm and lay centered at 60 km NW of Kolkata at 0530 IST of 4th May. To weaken into deep depression and move into Bangladesh by noon. 

IMD: Severe #CycloneFani weakened into a cyclonic storm and lay centered at 60 km NW of Kolkata at 0530 IST of 4th May. To weaken into Deep Depression and move into Bangladesh by noon. pic.twitter.com/8BjSXQvyza

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019

- PM Narendra Modi speaks to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, assures full support from Centre. Tap to read.

PM Modi: Spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Ji and discussed situation prevailing due to #CycloneFani. Assured continuous support from Central Government in the wake of the cyclone. Entire nation stands in solidarity with all those affected by cyclone in different parts (file pic) pic.twitter.com/8jnAs6XJe3

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019

-One more dead in Jaleswar. The death toll due to Cyclone Fani rises to 10.

-Death toll due to Cyclone Fani in Odisha: Kendrapara (Rajnagar) - 2, Puri (Sakhigopal) - 2, Nayagarh (Dashapalla) - 1, Mayurbhanj - 2, Jajpur- 2.

-The road network in several districts suffered extensive damage. The power distribution network and the telecom network has also been severely affected.

-Heavy to very heavy rains lashing the coastal districts since Thursday night.

-Thousands of trees and electricity poles have been uprooted under the impact of the cyclonic storm that made landfall in Puri, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur.

-Several trees have been uprooted in parts of West Bengal after Cyclone Fani entered the state late on Friday.

West Bengal: Clearing of uprooted trees from the road underway in Digha, weather clear. #CycloneFani pic.twitter.com/xMg1mdpNdn

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019

-Indian Coast Guard ships and helicopter deployed off Odisha Coast continue to look for marooned fishing boats at sea if any, Haldia dock operational as of now

While 02 @CoastGuard Ships and 01 Helicopter deployed off #Odisha Coast continue to look for marooned fishing boats at sea if any #Haldia dock reports operational normal as of now @DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD @indiannavy @PIB_India @MIB_India @PTI_News pic.twitter.com/c42nMt2Adn

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 4, 2019

-Post-Cyclone Fani, flight operations resume at Bhubaneswar airport

Update on resumption of Operations at #Bhubaneswar airport. @AAI_Official @HMOIndia @PIB_India @PIBHindi @aaibpiairport pic.twitter.com/5dvvLeX0yA

— Ministry of Civil Aviation (@MoCA_GoI) May 3, 2019

-Navy divers recover bodies of two missing persons from Mapithel Dam Reservoir. Tap to read

-Cyclone Fani triggers heavy rains in Kolkata.

Rain lashes Kolkata as #CycloneFani hit West Bengal by crossing Kharagpur earlier today pic.twitter.com/sP8ktKn2rR

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019

- Here are some visuals of the destruction unleashed by Cyclone Fani in Digha, West Bengal. 

Digha, West Bengal: #CycloneFani hit West Bengal by crossing Kharagpur earlier today pic.twitter.com/5T90cjVvTu

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2019

-No loss of life or any injury has been reported from Bengal so far.

-The rains are expected to continue till early Saturday.

-"It is likely to continue further in the north, northeast direction, and reach the east Burdwan-Hooghly border, and through Nadia go to Bangladesh on Saturday afternoon, weakening into a cyclonic storm, after having triggered rains," he added.

--"The severe cyclonic storm Fani entered Bengal at 12.30 AM through Odisha`s Balasore. It crossed Kharagpur packing wind of 70-80 kmph, gusting to 90 kmph," Regional Meteorological Centre`s Deputy Director General Sanjib Bandyopadhyay told IANS.

-On the other side of the border, Bangladesh too braced for the cyclone, evacuating over five lakh people from coastal areas.

-A red alert has been issued in coastal areas and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.

-Flight and train operations were affected with around 220 trains on Howrah-Chennai route have been cancelled keeping in view passengers' safety, an East Coast Railway (ECoR) official said.

-The evacuees have been accommodated in over 4,000 shelters, including 880 specially designed cyclone centres where free cooked food is being served to them, he said.

-“In the last 24 hours, 12 lakh people have been evacuated to safer locations and they are being taken care of in shelters,” Patnaik told media, adding that full assessment of damage will be possible only after it crosses the state.

-Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a review meeting with senior officials on the destruction caused by cyclonic storm Fani in the state.

-It claimed at least 10 lives and left over 160 injured, as officials awaited information from far-off regions.

-Parts of Kolkata and surrounding areas received moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday afternoon.

-Cyclone Fani, the most powerful tropical storm to hit India in 20 years, pummeled through coastal Odisha with wind speeds of over 200 kmph on Friday but failed to cause widespread death and destruction due to massive pre-emptive measures taken by the state government and other agencies.