by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed on Wednesday after cyclonic storm Yaas hit the coastal area of the eastern Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha, local media reported.
The cyclone made landfall with marginally lower intensity with a wind speed of 130-140 km/ph.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone has completed landfall and is likely to move north-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm during the next six hours.
Officials said the high tidal waves breached embankments in West Bengal and Odisha coast, with a total of five deaths reported in the two states on Wednesday.
In West Bengal, a youth who had moved to a cyclone shelter in the locality had come out of the shelter in Ramnagar 2 block of East Midnapore when the storm hit and he was drowned, local media reportd said.
Two other people are reported to be killed in the coastal town of Digha in West Bengal, with one of them dying in a building collapse and another dragged out to sea, the state's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
In the state of Odisha, two deaths have occurred.
"One person was killed in Panchapalli village of Keonjhar district in Odisha after a tree fell on him, while the body of a 15-year-old boy was found in a pond at Jagannath Khunta village in Mayurbhanj district," media reports quoted local officials as having said.
On Tuesday night two people were also electrocuted in West Bengal's Hooghly district during a tornado ahead of the cyclone.
Besides, damages have been reported in both states. Around 20,000 mud houses and temporary shelters were either destroyed or damaged, as seawater entered residential areas and inundated low-lying areas in Digha of West Bengal.
In Odisha, trees have been uprooted in Bhadrak district and some areas have been flooded. The local government has warned people to stay indoors as heavy rains are likely to continue.
Authorities of Odisha have shifted over half a million people from low-lying areas, while as in West Bengal around 1.15 million people were evacuated from the coastal areas and shifted to rescue shelters.
Chief ministers of both states are continuously monitoring the situation and holding review meetings with the disaster management officials.
India's federal government has alerted navy teams and the air force to assist the local governments in relief and rescue operations.
Meanwhile, 115 teams of India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the affected areas to clear roads of fallen trees and evacuate people from coastal villages and towns.
Last week cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc in India's coastal areas, killing many people in Karnataka, Goa and Kerala Maharashtra. At least 70 people were also killed after barge P305 sank off Mumbai due to the cyclone. Enditem