Thousands of people yesterday were homeless after a cyclone battered COVID-19-ravaged India and neighboring Bangladesh, killing nine people, including four children.
Cyclones are a regular menace in the northern Indian Ocean, but many scientists say they are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change warms sea temperatures.
Barely a week after Cyclone Tauktae claimed at least 155 lives in western India, Cyclone Yaas forced the evacuation of more than 1.5 million people in the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha.
The storm hit on Wednesday with torrential rain and howling winds gusting up to 155kph, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.
Waves
Mamata Banerjee said that she would be holding a review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that she would be holding a review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the cyclone Yaas-led devastation, during his visit to the state.
Ms Banerjee said that the meeting will be held at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming here after conducting a survey of cyclone-affected areas in Odisha. He will reach Kalaikunda via Digha, and take his flight to Delhi from there. The PM will hold a review meeting with me at Kalaikunda, Ms Banerjee told reporters at the secretariat.