Cyclone Amphan | At least 10-12 feared killed as of now: Mamata

Entire south Bengal is hit, says CM

Villagers repair a bank that was destroyed by sea waves at Bakkhali due to the landing of Cyclone Amphan, near Sunderbans area in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on May 20, 2020.

At least 10-12 persons are feared killed as of Wednesday night, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

“Entire south Bengal is hit. South Bengal is finished. I would request [the Centre] to provide humanitarian relief and not to engage in any politics,” said Ms. Banerjee.

Experts said the super cyclone was “the worst natural disaster to hit West Bengal in possibly a century.”

“The damage caused by Amphan is far far bigger than corona,” the Chief Minister said.

The cyclone also hit the State Secretariat, where Ms. Banerjee was located for last 24 hours, and damaged it too.

“We are in the middle of ruins,” Ms. Banerjee said.

Kolkata streets are deserted due to heavy and continuous downpour in the city due to Cyclone Amphan.

A man walks down a street in Kolkata which was inundated with rain due to the heavy rains caused by Cyclone Amphan.

Cyclone Amphan made landfall on the West Bengal Coast with wind speed of 110-120 kmph in Kolkata on Wednesday.

A woman purchases vegetables in a heavy downpour due to the impact of the Super Cyclone Amphan in Kolkata.

A woman carries her son as she tries to protect him from heavy rain while they rush to a safer place, following their evacuation from a slum area before Cyclone Amphan made its landfall, in Kolkata,

Waves crash on the banks of the Ganga river in the backdrop of dark clouds covering the sky ahead of Cyclone Amphan's landfall in Kolkata on May 20.

Villagers repair a bank that was destroyed by sea waves at Bakkhali due to the landing of Cyclone Amphan, near Sunderbans area in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on May 20, 2020.

Policemen remove a damaged structure from a road as super cyclone Amphan makes its landfall, at Rasgovindpur in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha on May 20, 2020.

The Kachuberia jetty collapses at Bakkhali due to the impact of Cyclone Amphan, near Sunderbans area in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on May 20, 2020.

Policeman Muzaffar Mondal braves the downpour due to Cyclone Amphan and stands guard on the Kolkata's arterial Red Road to perform his duty.

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Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said it was expected that the cyclone would make a landfall between Digha and Bangladesh, a wide area, but it actually hit Sagar Island at the edge of the Bay of Bengal, about 100 kilometres south of Kolkata.

“It engulfed a huge area hitting all districts [in south Bengal]. Now it has moved to North 24 Paraganas. It will stay there for 2-3 hours. The scale of damage is very huge in North and South 24 Paraganas,” Mr. Sinha said.

Unlike of her, the Chief Minister looked particularly dejected in Wednesday night’s press conference. She appealed to all to stay put in the relief centre and “not to leave the centres under any circumstances.”