Three killed as Cyclone Hamoon hits Bangladesh

Bangladeshi authorities have lowered the warning for maritime ports and coastal districts after a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal made landfall.

This led to the killing of at least three people and knocking down trees and electricity poles.

Cyclone Hamoon crossed the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar coast in the early hours on Wednesday and weakened into a land depression, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said in a special weather bulletin issued on Wednesday.

According to the met office, the storm pounded the south-eastern tourist area of Cox’s Bazar with a wind speed of 80 kilometres per hour, accompanied by heavy rain.

Three people were killed after trees fell on them during the storm on Tuesday night, chief of the district administration Shaheen Imran said, adding that the storm damaged many thatched houses.

He said the local administration had launched a mission to assess the extent of damage caused by the disaster.

Imran said power supply could not be resumed in parts of the district as many electricity poles were knocked down during the storm.

Videos and photos posted on social media showed road links were blocked in many places in the district as trees were uprooted.

Members of the Fire Service and Civil Defence emergency service were seen trying to clear the roads.

The authorities moved some 270,000 coastal residents to safety ahead of the cyclone’s landfall despite that the government planned for evacuation of nearly 1.5 million people.

Not all the coastal districts required evacuation as the storm had changed its course, said Mizanur Rahman, head of the disaster management department, adding that most of the evacuees had returned home.

The coastal areas experienced heavy rainfall under the influence of the storm.

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