Cyclone Amphan, one of the most powerful storms to hit South Asia in recent years, killed at least 22 people and left a trail of destruction in India and Bangladesh, officials said Thursday, according to dpa. Amphan destroyed thousands of homes, uprooted trees and led to severe flooding, leaving authorities struggling to mount relief operations amid coronavirus outbreaks in both countries. India's eastern state of West Bengal took the brunt of the storm that barrelled into the coast on Wednesday evening with heavy rain, packing winds up to 185 kilometres per hour (km/h). The extent of damage was becoming clearer Thursday morning, with television footage from state capital Kolkata showing extensive damage to infrastructure and roads, upturned cars and felled electric poles. At least 12 people died in the state in incidents of house and tree collapses, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said. Another person died in the neighbouring state of Odisha. The cyclone had travelled inland into Bangladesh, where nine more deaths were confirmed in six coastal districts, according to disaster management official Nitay Dey Sarkar. Most of them died after trees fell on them.
