Dhaka, Oct 27 (bdnews24.com) – At least six people were killed in southern districts, and dozens of fisherman reported missing, in the wake of Cyclonic Storm Rashmi, which crossed the Khulna-Barisal coast in the early hours of Monday morning bringing torrential overnight rain and driving winds.
Moving northeast, Rashmi weakened into a land depression over Faridpur, Madaripur, Chandpur, Dhaka and adjoining areas by morning, heading further inland, the weather office said in a special bulletin.
In its wake, coastal areas suffered damage to houses and crops, launch movements were halted on inland routes and many thousands took cover in cyclone shelters through the night as the storm neared the Bangladesh coast.
The storm front began crossing the coast near Patharghata, with wind speeds of 60-80km/h, in the early hours of Monday. Mongla seaport and adjoining coastal areas were advised to hoist danger signal 7 in an early morning weather bulletin. As the storm weakened, moving inland, they were advised to lower the danger signal and hoist local cautionary signal 3.
Chittagong and Cox's Bazar seaports were also advised to lower their earlier danger signal 6, and hoist cautionary signal 3. Chittagong port resumed operations from Monday morning.
Six storm-victims were reported dead in Bhola, Barisal, Laxmipur and Shariatpur, local officials said.
bdnews24.com Bhola correspondent said that heavy rainfalls twinned with gusty winds continued till the early morning, with intermittent rainfall after 10am. Two deaths were reported, as the storm hit Sunday night, local officials said.
Patuakahli saw driving rain with cold winds, with ferry movements on all inland routes cancelled, said bdnews24.com's correspondent in the district. As many as 6,000 houses were damaged in several upazilas and dozens of fishermen were missing. Many people were seen to head for cyclone centres.
In Barisal, strong winds caused damage to homes, and the bodies of two storm victims were recovered Monday morning, said bdnews24.com's correspondent. Thousands took cover in cyclone shelters overnight. The storm damaged 30 percent Aman crops in the district, one agricultural officer estimated.
Shariatpur correspondent confirmed one person dead and many people injured after the cyclone hit on Monday morning. Some 80 percent crops were damaged during the time, an official said.
bdnews24.com Chittagong correspondent said authorities allowed ship movement in the port after the danger signal was lowered to local cautionary signal 3. The district was experiencing sporadic rain since morning.
Munshiganj correspondent said ferry movement remained halted for 11 hours, and resuming from 11 am on Monday.
Chandpur and Khulna correspondents said thousands of homes and trees were damaged by the storm.
bdnews24.com/corr/su/rah/1611hours
