KOLKATA: Cyclone Dana uprooted trees and power lines after making landfall on India’s east coast, with officials warning of more fierce weather on Friday.
Cyclones — the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific — are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.
At least 1.1 million people in the states of Odisha and West Bengal were relocated to storm shelters before the eye of the cyclone reached the coast just after midnight.
District official Siddarth Swain said that the storm had left a “trail of destruction” in the coastal town of Puri.
“Many trees and electric poles are uprooted,” he added. “Makeshift shops on the sprawling beach have been blown away.”
No casualties have been reported so far.
Dana flooded parts of the coast after triggering a surge in sea levels of up to 1.15 meters (3.75 feet).
On landfall the storm had gusting winds up to 120 kilometers per hour, Kolkata-based weather bureau forecaster Somenath Dutta said.
The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, was hit by a “gale force wind” that caused hundreds of trees to be uprooted, West Bengal minister Bankim Chandra Hazra said.
“The cyclone also damaged hundreds of homes, blowing off roofs in coastal areas,” he added.
Major airports have been shut since Thursday night in Kolkata, India’s third-biggest city and a key travel hub, which was lashed by heavy rains.
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.
Warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, which provides additional energy for storms, strengthening winds.
A warming atmosphere also allows storms to hold more water, boosting heavy rainfall.
But better forecasting and more effective evacuation planning have dramatically reduced death tolls.
In May, Cyclone Remal killed at least 48 people in India and at least 17 people in Bangladesh, according to government figures.
Trees and power lines flattened as Cyclone Dana hits India
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Trees and power lines flattened as Cyclone Dana hits India
- Cyclones are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean
- At least 1.1 million people in the states of Odisha and West Bengal were relocated to storm shelters
Macron says EU move on Mercosur deal a ‘bad surprise’
- “For France, this is a surprise, and a bad one,” Macron said
- The move showed “bad manners toward the European Parliament“
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron denounced Friday the European Commission’s “bad manners” following its decision to provisionally apply the Mercosur trade deal and called the move a “bad surprise” for France.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said earlier Friday that the European Union will implement the mammoth trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc while waiting for a top court’s ruling on its legality.
“For France, this is a surprise, and a bad one,” Macron said in a strongly-worded statement, adding the move showed “bad manners toward the European Parliament.”
“The European Commission has made the unilateral decision to provisionally apply the agreement with Mercosur, even though the European Parliament has not voted on it. It is thus taking on a very heavy responsibility.”
Speaking alongside Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob, Macron said he would make sure “that what we have negotiated hard for over the last few months is respected.”
“We will be uncompromising on compliance with these rules, because Europe has significantly tightened the rules on our producers in recent years,” Macron added.
“And so I will never defend an agreement that is lax on imports and tough on what we produce at home, because it is inconsistent for European consumers and criminal for European sovereignty,” he said.
