Indian Official: The Storm is More Worrying than COVID-19

A giant cyclone has torn through Eastern India and Bangladesh, killing at least 14 people, and leaving thousands homeless. This natural disaster on top of the surging coronavirus spread has left officials deeply concerned as to how to manage relief efforts.

"The situation is more worrying than the coronavirus pandemic. We don't know how to handle it," said Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal – the state of India which has suffered the worst effects of the cyclone.

While at least 10 were killed in the state and thousands had their homes destroyed, 500,000 people have had to be evacuated, Banerjee told Reuters.

Neighboring Bangladesh was also hit hard – 4 people lost their lives and some districts suffered power cuts.

“Authorities there moved around 2.4 million people to more than 15,000 storm shelters this week,” writes Al Jazeera. The media platform also noted that the region’s population is one of the most vulnerable in South Asia. In this region, 58 million people live on the bordering territories of the two countries in “poor fishing communities in the Sunderbans" and with "over a million Rohingya refugees living in crowded camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.”

By Nini Dakhundaridze

Source: Al Jazeera

Image source: AFP