The extremely severe cyclone Amphan has started barrelling towards Kolkata in India and spanned to Bangladesh after making landfall in West Bengal coast near the Sundarbans.
It started crossing the Bangladesh side of the coast around 5pm on Wednesday packing a wind speed of around 160 to 180kph rising to 200kph within 80km of its centre, meteorologist Abdul Mannan told bdnews24.com.
It would take around six to eight hours for the entire storm system with a diameter of 400km to cross the coastline, he said.
Bangladesh is likely to experience rainfalls from Wednesday night to Thursday night, the meteorologist added.
One person died in Bhola’s Char Fasson after a tree fell on him due to strong wind earlier in the afternoon.
The 70-year-old from Dakshin Aicha was going to collect his elderly allowance by sharing a motorcycle, the police said.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department has said the coastal districts are likely to experience wind speed up to 140-160kph in gusts or squalls with heavy to very heavy rainfalls during the passage of the cyclone.
A dam in Noakhali was breached by abnormally high tides, inundating over 500 households at Char Ishwar, Nijhum Dwip and Sonadia, local public representatives said.
The ground floors of some storm shelters also went under water.
The Met Office has warned of storm surge of 10-15 feet high above normal astronomical tide under the influence of the storm, reports bdnews24.com.
