93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
(AP) Heavy winds and a high tide are lashing parts of eastern India and neighboring Bangladesh as a cyclone moves ashore where more than 1.1 million people have evacuated.
Sustained winds up to 87 miles per hour are blowing, but the storm is forecast to weaken Wednesday. West Bengal state’s top official says 20,000 mud huts and temporary shelters for the poor have been damaged. TV images show knee-deep water in a beach resort town and wind whipping palm trees. Cyclone Yaas had already caused two deaths and damaged homes before the landfall, and comes amid a coronavirus surge, with both complicating relief efforts.
In Bangladesh, thousands of people in 200 villages have been marooned as their homes, shops and farms were flooded by tidal surges.
