Cyclone kills at least 82 in India and Bangladesh

The most powerful cyclone to strike eastern India and Bangladesh in more than a decade has killed at least 82 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

Joe Davies reports.

The most powerful cyclone to strike eastern India and Bangladesh in over a decade has killed scores of people and destroyed thousands of homes.

Cyclone Amphan barrelled in from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday (May 20) with winds of up to 115 miles per hour.

It caused a storm surge of around five meters and mass flooding across low-lying coastal areas.

At least 82 have been killed, according to rescue officials, but that number is expected to rise.

Authorities in both countries managed to evacuate more than 3 million people, moving them to storm shelters before the cyclone struck.

But the evacuation effort was focused on communities that lay directly in the cyclone's path.

Many villages on the edges were left vulnerable.

The airport in West Bengal's state capital of Kolkata is under water.

According to residents there, several neighborhoods in the city of 14 million people have had no electricity since the storm struck.

Rescue operations have been complicated by efforts to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Police said some people were unwilling to go to the shelters out of fear of contracting the disease.

Designated a super cyclone, Amphan has weakened since making landfall.

Moving inland through Bangladesh, it was downgraded to a cyclonic storm on Thursday (May 21) by the Indian weather office.

The storm is expected to subside later into a depression.