New Delhi: Cyclone Fani has entered West Bengal, hours after making landfall and causing havoc in Odisha on Friday. One of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, the cyclone uprooted trees and triggered rains in Bengal on Saturday night. No loss of life or any injury has been reported so far. Around 15,000 people spent last night at shelters in coastal East Midnapore district, while 20,000 people stayed at shelters in West Midnapore district.
Worst hit was Odisha where Cyclone Fani made landfall on Friday, packing winds gusting up to 200 kilometres an hour, sending coconut trees flying, knocking down power lines and cutting off water and telecommunications. Twelve people were killed in Odisha, including a teenage boy crushed under a tree and a woman hit by concrete debris.
Here are the LIVE updates on Cyclone Fani:
May 04, 2019 12:27 (IST)
Randeep Kumar Rana, DIG Operations of NDRF, says: "Cyclone Fani has weakened and is covering areas of West Bengal in the form of cyclone. It is further moving towards Bangladesh. The situation is under control and there is not much damaging effect. 9 teams of NDRF are present in West Bengal."
May 04, 2019 11:43 (IST)
Cyclonic storm Fani has weakened and is moving towards neighbouring Bangladesh, a senior official of the regional meteorological centre says.
May 04, 2019 10:19 (IST)
Around 400,000 people have been taken to shelters, Bangladeshi officials tells news agency AFP.
May 04, 2019 09:42 (IST)
Air India to resume operations at Kolkata airport from 9:45am.
May 04, 2019 08:50 (IST)
Severe Cyclone Fani weakens into a cyclonic storm and lies centered at 60 km north west of Kolkata, says India Meteorological Department. The storm will weaken into Deep Depression and move into Bangladesh by noon.