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Published : 29 Apr 2026, 11:49 AM
A Nor’wester storm in Cumilla has caused extensive damage to electrical connections in all 17 Upazilas. The stormy winds uprooted electric poles, damaged transformers and metre boxes, leaving customers without power for hours.
The Rural Electrification Board said that these electrical connections will be repaired very soon. However, the repair work is being delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
SSC candidates who took the exam on Tuesday morning suffered greatly due to the power outage. In many centres, students had to take the exam in the dark or by lighting charger lights or candles.
Apart from this, the Upazilas under Cumilla Rural Electrification Association-2 in the south of the district suffered the most damage. During the two-day Nor’wester storm, six Upazilas here - Adarsh Sadar, Sadar Dakshin, Lalmai, Chauddagram, Burichang and Brahmanpara - suffered extensive damage.
Senior General Manager of Cumilla Rural Electrification Association-2 Dilip Chandra Chowdhury said that as of 9pm on Tuesday, a total of 71 electric poles had been broken by the storm. As many as 550 metre boxes were broken and damaged. Trees fell on electric connections at least in 1,025 spots and wires were snapped at 738 spots. A total of 27,000 customers were disconnected due to damage to 35 transformers in six Upazilas.
He said, “We had restored all the connections after Sunday. But these connections were again damaged and shut down in Tuesday’s storm. We are working day and night to restore them.”
Meanwhile, reports of extensive damage to the power supply system have also been received in Chandina, Debidwar, Muradnagar and Barura Upazilas of Rural Electrification Association-1.
Customers in these areas were left without power for about eight hours on Tuesday morning due to the Nor’wester storm. Later, at 5pm, the main connection to the national grid was repaired, said rural electricity officials.
Engineer Rasheduzzaman, senior general manager of the association, said, “Our team has been working everywhere since the storm. The total extent of the damage was not known until Tuesday night.”
Barura Upazila Executive Officer Asaduzzaman Roni said that several trees have fallen in various areas of the Upazila, including Bhabanipur and Egarogram. Directives have been given to the authorities to remove them.
In addition, several unions have had their power connection disconnected, and the Rural Electrification Board is working to restore them.
The authorities said that it will take more time to know the total damage to the four Rural Electrification Associations in Cumilla. The Department of Disaster Management said that it has not been possible to estimate the extent of other damage.
Arifur Rahman, officer-in-charge of the Cumilla office of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said that 102mm of rainfall was recorded in the district from Tuesday morning to 12pm. Such weather may continue for a few more days.
