More than 50 killed by Cyclone Remal in India and Bangladesh

(updated story)

More than 50 people have died in India and Bangladesh after Tropical Cyclone Remal lashed the area with torrential rain and heavy winds, according to local officials.

Remal made landfall at the start of the week and while it weakened it has brought torrential rain to much of Bangladesh and northeastern India. The death toll across both nations has now risen to 51 people. The northeastern Indian state of Mizoram has been hit hardest with landslides killing 27 people, according to local officials.

 “Electricity and water supply will be stifled due to damage of infrastructure,” the Mizoram government said in a statement on X. Cyclone-related deaths were also reported in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and the southern Indian state of Telangana as well as Bangladesh.

The Indian Meteorological Department on Tuesday 28 May Remal weakened into a depression over east Bangladesh after losing some force earlier on Monday. It caused widespread damage in both countries, toppling trees, turning roads into rivers and leaving millions without electricity.More than 1 million people in India and Bangladesh were evacuated Sunday as the cyclone made landfall near the border between the two countries. Authorities said that volunteers and army staff were mobilized to assist with clean-up efforts, and distribute food and water to displaced families.

Remal made landfall roughly 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the Indian city of Kolkata, packing gusts of up to 135 kilometers per hour (84 miles per hour), and is moving northwards across Bangladesh and its adjoining West Bengal coasts, the Indian Meteorological Department said.

The storm weakened after it hit the coast with wind speeds of up to 115 kilometers per hour (71 mph). Remal is expected to dump more than 89 millimeters (3.5 inches) of rain and bring wind-driven storm surges of 2.5 to 3.7 meters to the coasts of the Bay of Bengal, according to CNN Weather.

The ports of Mongla and Payra in Bangladesh put up the Great Danger Signal 10 — the highest alert signal — on Sunday, and all boats were advised to remain in shelter by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

About 2 million people live in storm-affected areas in Bangladesh, according to non-profit BRAC.

At least half a million of these people “live in houses made of materials such as clay, wood, plastic sheets, straw or tin,” said Dr. Md Liakath Ali, a disaster expert at BRAC. Millions are without power as authorities shut down electricity supply to many areas in advance to avoid accidents, according to Ali. Fallen trees and broken lines disrupted supply, he said.

An especially vulnerable group are the stateless Rohingya communities who fled persecution in nearby Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017. They are already living in the world’s largest refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, which is at risk of landslides and floods, owing to the flimsy structure of their shelters. Many live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters perched on hilly slopes that are vulnerable to strong winds, rain, and landslides.

In India, video from the country’s National Disaster Response Force showed workers removing broken trees in the state of West Bengal as heavy rain lashed down on them. The Coast Guard was closely monitoring Remal’s landfall, with ships and hovercraft on standby to respond to any challenges, it said.

Hundreds of flights were also impacted following the closure on Sunday of the main international airport in Kolkata, West Bengal state’s capital. Air traffic in and out of the airport resumed on Monday, but disruptions continued with dozens of flights delayed, according to the airport’s official website.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he had reviewed disaster management and preparation efforts. “I pray for everyone’s safety and wellbeing,” Modi wrote on X.

Cyclones, also known as typhoons and called hurricanes in North America, are enormous heat engines of wind and rain that feed on warm ocean water and moist air. And scientists say the climate crisis is making them more potent.

A study published in 2021 by researchers at the Shenzhen Institute of Meteorological Innovation and the Chinese University of Hong Kong and published in Frontiers in Earth Science found that tropical cyclones in Asia could have double the destructive power by the end of the century, with scientists saying the human-made climate crisis is already making them stronger.

The cyclone comes as parts of western and central India continue to bake under severe heat, with temperatures soaring beyond 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some cities, causing illness and forcing some schools to close. Climate scientists have long warned that these extremes of weather will only continue to intensify because of the climate crisis, with millions of people in India vulnerable to the risks associated with it.