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Cyclone Takes Toll on Infrastructure, Crops in India, Bangladesh

VOA News

   A strong cyclone that struck parts of eastern India and Bangladesh
   earlier this week, leaving a trail of mass destruction and chaos, has
   caused $13 billion in damage to infrastructure and crops, Indian
   officials said Saturday.

   In neighboring Bangladesh, government officials initially said Cyclone
   Amphan had caused $130 million in damage, but that the number could
   rise.

   Amphan killed at least 102 people in the two countries, largely because
   of collapses of homes and electrocutions.

   Officials said the death toll could have been higher if more than 3
   million people had not been evacuated before Amphan made landfall.

   Two West Bengal government officials told Reuters on Saturday that the
   cyclone had damaged homes, crops and other property owned by more than
   13 million people.

   Wreckage in Kolkata

   The cyclone also left a trail of devastation through the state's
   densely populated capital, Kolkata, with rain and strong winds
   uprooting trees and electric poles, disrupting power supply, damaging
   buildings and leaving homes waterlogged in low lying areas.

   U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in statement Saturday
   that he was "saddened by the loss of lives and destruction" in the two
   countries and commended "the governments, first responders and
   communities for their pre-emptive work to make people safe ahead of the
   storm and to meet their immediate needs afterwards."

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