Storm hits coast, weakens

CALCUTTA, OCT. 28. A cyclonic storm accompanied by squally winds of 50 to 60 km per hour hit the West Bengal coast past mid-day near the Sagar Islands bringing heavy rains in its wake and gradually weakening into a deep depression after landfall.

The deep depression, which lay centred at 150 km east of Calcutta, was likely to move in a north-easterly direction towards Bangladesh and weaken further, regional met office sources here said. Under its influence, heavy rains lashed parts of West Bengal coast and Gangetic West Bengal. Squally winds of 40 to 50 km per hour were experienced in coastal areas of south and North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly, Midnapore and Malda, uprooting trees and damaging kutchha houses.

The storm caused a strong surge of 1 to 1.5 metre above the normal tide level near the landfall point, the sources said. The area cyclone warning issued by the regional met office was withdrawn following the landfall.

A South 24 Parganas report quoting the District Magistrate, Mr. Alapan Bandhopadhyay, said many mud huts had collapsed in the district following heavy rains and high winds on Friday night, but their exact number was not known.

A number of river embankments at Patharpratima, Gosaba, Sagar Islands, Namkhana and Bakhali areas had developed cracks with a rise in the levels of rivers. District engineers, executive engineers and an Additional District Magistrate were assessing the damage, he said.

- PTI

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