14 dead as Cyclone Bulbul smashes into India, Bangladesh coasts

KHULNA: Fourteen people died and more than two million others spent a night huddled in storm shelters as Cyclone Bulbul smashed into the coasts of India and Bangladesh with fierce gales and torrential rains, officials said Sunday.

The cyclone packed winds of up to 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour when it hit late Saturday, closing ports and airports in both countries.

Three people were killed in India's West Bengal state, two after uprooted trees fell on their homes and another after being struck by the falling branches of a tree in Kolkata.

A fourth person died in a wall collapse in nearby Odisha state.

A man clear debris from his house damaged by Cyclone Bulbul. PHOTO: AFP

In Bangladesh, four more were killed by falling trees and at least 20 people were injured. The cyclone also damaged some 4,000 mostly mud and tin-built houses, Bangladesh's disaster management secretary Shah Kamal told AFP.

In coastal Khulna, the worst-hit district in Bangladesh, trees swayed violently and were ripped from the ground in the fierce storms, blocking roads and hampering access to the area.

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Some low-lying parts of the district had flooded, disaster management minister Enamur Rahman told AFP.

Authorities said the cyclone was weakening as it moved inland.

"It has turned into a deep depression, causing heavy rainfalls," Bangladesh weather bureau deputy chief Ayesha Khatun told AFP.

Villagers walk past debris after Cyclone Bulbul hit the area in Bakkhali. PHOTO: AFP

Bulbul hit the coast at the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest which straddles both Bangladesh and India, and is home to endangered species including the Bengal tiger and the Irrawaddy dolphins.

The mangroves shielded the coast from the storm's full impact, Khatun said.

More than two million people across Bangladesh were relocated to cyclone shelters.

Troops were sent to coastal districts while tens of thousands of volunteers went door-to-door and used loudspeakers to urge people to evacuate their villages.

A man cuts down a fallen tree after Cyclone Bulbul hit the area. PHOTO: AFP

"We spent the night with another 400 people," said Ambia Begum, who arrived at a shelter in the port town of Mongla late Saturday along with her family.

"I am worried about my cattle and the straw roof of my house. I could not bring them here. Allah knows what is happening there," the 30-year-old mother of three told AFP.

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Around 1,500 tourists were stranded on St Martin's island off southeast Bangladesh after boat services were cancelled.

In India, some 60,000 people were evacuated from their homes while flights in and out of Kolkata airport were suspended for 12 hours.

Bangladesh's low-lying coast, home to 30 million people, and India's east are regularly battered by cyclones that leave a trail of destruction.

A pedestrian makes his way under heavy rain as cyclone Bulbul approaches the area in Khulna. PHOTO: AFP

Hundreds of thousands of people living around the Bay of Bengal have been killed in cyclones in recent decades.

While the frequency and intensity of the storms have increased, partly due to climate change, the death tolls have come down because of faster evacuations and the building of thousands of coastal shelters.

Cyclone Fani was the most powerful storm to hit the area in years when it struck in May, killing 12 people.