‘Super cyclone’ barrels towards BD, India

KHULNA, Bangladesh: Several million people battened down on Wednesday as the outer edges of the fiercest cyclone in decades rattled Bangladesh and eastern India, potentially bringing widespread destruction and misery in its wake.

As the eye of Amphan fast approached, the Bangladeshi Red Crescent reported the first death, after a volunteer drowned while moving villagers to shelter when strong winds capsized a boat.

Authorities have scrambled to evacuate low-lying areas in the storm's projected trail of destruction, but their task is complicated by the need to follow precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"There is panic," said Abdur Rahim, a Bangladeshi shrimp farmer on the edge of the Sundarbans mangrove forest, which was expected to bear the full brunt of the impact.

"A few months ago Cyclone Bulbul smashed our village, destroying at least 100 homes. We hope Allah will save us this time."

Amphan is only the second "super cyclone" to form over the Bay of Bengal since records began, and the first since 1999.

At 3:00 pm the centre of the awesome vortex visible from space roared 65 kilometres (40 miles) offshore. The weather department said that it had begun to make landfall, a process forecast to last four hours.

Gusts on land of 185 kilometres per hour (115 mph) were predicted, the equivalent of a Category Three hurricane, with a storm surge of several metres, forecasters said. Such walls of water can cascade several kilometres inland, and are often the main killers in any cyclone, typhoon or hurricane.

The Indian met office warned of possible flying objects, "extensive" damage to communications and power lines, and trees being ripped out of the ground.

Kolkata was battered by heavy rain and the muddy Hooghly river was rising under dark skies, while in the coastal resort of Digha, large waves were pounding the shore. "Scores of trees and electric poles have been uprooted," hotel owner Partha Tripathi said.