2m rush to shelters as India braces for another cyclone
National
May 26, 2021
KOLKATA: A powerful cyclone headed for eastern India Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of nearly two million people just a week after another huge storm claimed at least 155 lives on the west coast.
Cyclone Yaas in the Bay of Bengal is expected to slam into West Bengal and Odisha states around midday on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department said, and could bring winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour. Experts say the warming of ocean waters due to climate change has led to an increase in the frequency and intensity of such storms. Nearly two million people, living along India´s east coast, are being moved to shelters, officials said Tuesday, and the storm has also disrupted efforts to combat the country´s devastating COVID-19 outbreak. "This cyclone is a terrible blow for many people in coastal districts whose families have been struck down by COVID-19 infections and deaths," West Bengal Sundarbans development minister Bankim Chandra Hazra said. "Nearly half a million people are being evacuated from their homes in the West Bengal coastal region and it´s a big challenge to provide them shelter while maintaining social distancing." Some vaccination centres in districts under threat as well as the capital Kolkata would suspend operations, officials said, and efforts were under way to ensure the supply of oxygen and medicines to hospitals during the storm.