Millions Hide as Super Cyclone Roars India and Bangladesh

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Millions of people have fled to shelters in India and neighboring Bangladesh as the fiercest cyclone in decades hit the region, which also faces a coronavirus pandemic.

Many of those hiding Wednesday reportedly prayed that Cyclone Amphan, the equivalent of a category-3 hurricane, would soon be over amid reports of victims.

As wind speeds reached 128 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, evacuations of 2.6 million people were complicated because of social distancing measures to halt the coronavirus.

Even ahead of the arrival of Amphan, the Bangladeshi Red Crescent aid group reported the first death. It says one of its volunteers drowned while moving villagers to shelter when strong winds capsized a boat.

Authorities warned evacuees that the cyclone could cause extensive damage to flimsy houses, and a storm surge may push seawater 24 kilometers (15 miles) inland flooding metropolis, including the Indian city of Kolkata with over 4.5 million residents.

The densely populated region is home to some of the most vulnerable communities in South Asia. They include poor fishing communities in India’s Sunderbans area and more than a million Rohingya refugees living in the crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar in nearby Bangladesh.

“At least 50 people took shelter in my concrete-built house,” said Abdur Rahim, a Bangladeshi shrimp farmer on the edge of the Sundarbans mangrove forest that is expected to bear the full brunt. “There is panic. The women are worried,” he told French news agency AFP. “A few months ago Cyclone Bulbul smashed our village, destroying at least 100 homes. We hope Allah will save us this time.”

Amphan is reportedly the second “super cyclone” to form over the Bay of Bengal since records began, and the first since 1999.

Because of coronavirus, authorities in both countries said that they were using extra shelter space to reduce crowding, while also making face masks compulsory and setting aside isolation rooms.

Infection numbers are still soaring in both countries, and hospitals are struggling to cope, officials claim. India, a nation of roughly 1.3 billion people, reported over 3,300 coronavirus related deaths. Bangladesh, with over 162 million people, confirmed some 370 casualties of the coronavirus. Critics claim the real figures may be higher.

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