5 killed as cyclone Amphan hits Bangladesh coast

Key updates on cyclone Amphan

1. The cyclone made landfall in West Bengal after 3pm and slammed into Kolkata with a ferocious look. Later it hit Bangladesh coast via Sundarbans. 
2. An elderly man, a 5-year-old kid and a middle-aged woman died under the falling trees in Bhola, Patuakhali and Satkhira. Another resident of Pirojpur's Mathbaria upazila died after a wall collapsed on him. 
3. The missing team leader of unit 6 of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) has been found dead.
4. Water level in rivers rises in several coastal districts.
5. Cyclone Amphan is forecast to be the worst storm over the Bay of Bengal since the 1991.
6. Maritime ports of Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep hoisted great danger signal no 10.
7. Maritime ports of Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar have been advised to keep hoisted great danger signal 9.
8. All fishing boats and trawlers over north bay and deep sea have been advised to take shelter immediately and will remain in shelter till further notice.
9. Armed forces ready to step in post-cyclone recovery.
10. Government has prepared a total of 14,636 shelter centres and formed medical teams with 1,757 members in 19 districts. 

Severe cyclonic storm Amphan has hit the Sundarbans coast of Bangladesh coastlines on Wednesday evening after making a landfall in India's West Bengal.

Confirming the matter to media, Met Office Director Shamsuddin Ahmed said the cyclone currently crossing Satkhira-Khulna region.

The cyclone hit the Shyamnagar and Koyra areas of Satkhira around 5pm with a wind speed of 60-70km.

Cyclone Amphan may cross Satkhira and Khulna region tonight. The wind speed may gradually drop as it passes through the coastal belt.

Meanwhile, an elderly man has died after a tree fell on him amid the stormy weather caused by the cyclonic storm Amphan in Bhola. 

The victim, Siddique Fakir, 70,  was injured in the tree-fall on Wednesday morning in Kachchapia area of Char Fashion and succumbed to his injury this afternoon while undergoing treatment in a local hospital. 

A five-year-old kid was killed on Wednesday evening after a tree fell on him while going to the cyclone centre with his parent’s at Patuakhali’s Galachipa upazila.

Shahjahan Molla, a resident of Pirojpur’s Mathbaria upazila died after a wall collapsed on him during the passage of Amphan.

A middle-aged woman also died while collecting mango during cyclone Amphan on Satkhira.

Syed Shah Alam, 50, the missing team leader of unit 6 of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) was found dead, Deputy Commissioner of Patuakhali Matiul Alam Chowdhury said.

Shah Alam fell the Hafezpadar canal in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali on Wednesday around 9am while calling out to everyone about the great danger signal. 

He was with three others in a boat and had been missing since the then.

The water level started rising in different rivers of Barguna, Satkhira and other coastal districts from Wednesday morning. Embankments of several rivers have collapsed already.

Bangladesh's Met office early today advised maritime ports Payra and Mongla to hoist great danger signal number 10 while Chattogram and Cox's Bazar asked to hoist great signal 9.

Cyclone Amphan, moving at a wind speed of 200 to 220 kilometers per hour within 85 kilometers of the centre of cyclone.The coastal districts of Bangladesh have been experiencing light rain and stormy weather from Tuesday evening.

Under the influence of the cyclone and the new moon phase, the low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Jhalokathi, Pirojpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barishal, Laxmipur, Chandpur, Noakhali, Feni, Chattogram and their offshore islands and chars are likely to be flooded by a storm surge of 5-10 feet height above normal astronomical tide,

The districts are likely to experience a wind speed up to 140-160 km/h in gusts/squalls with heavy to very heavy rainfalls during the passage of the cyclone.

Super Cyclone Amphan weakened into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday evening, triggering heavy rain and gusts of wind in India's Odisha and rain in some parts of West Bengal, NDTV reports.

Cyclone Amphan is forecast to be the worst storm over the Bay of Bengal since the 1991.

In the history of independent Bangladesh, the 1991 cyclone was among the deadliest tropical cyclones on record. The cyclone caused at least 138,866 deaths at the last week of April of that year.

However, in 1970, Bhola cyclone killed more than 5 lakh people after it hit the entire coast of Bangladesh (pre-independence period). Most affected were Chattogram, Barguna, Khepupara, Patuakhali, north of Char Burhanuddin, Char Tazumuddin and south of Maijdi, Haringhata.