Passenger ferries tied up in a jetty on Hooghly River in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyclone has slammed ashore along...
Passenger ferries tied up in a jetty on Hooghly River in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyclone has slammed ashore along the coastline of India and Bangladesh where more than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a frantic evacuation made all the more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
A man covers himself with a plastic sheet and walks in the rain ahead of Cyclone Amphan landfall, at Bhadrak district, in the eastern Indian state of ...
A man covers himself with a plastic sheet and walks in the rain ahead of Cyclone Amphan landfall, at Bhadrak district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. A strong cyclone blew heavy rains and strong winds into coastal India and Bangladesh on Wednesday after more than 2.6 million people were moved to shelters in a frantic evacuation made more challenging by coronavirus. (AP Photo)
Commuters take shelter in an empty taxi stand at Howrah railway station as it rains in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyc...
Commuters take shelter in an empty taxi stand at Howrah railway station as it rains in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyclone has slammed ashore along the coastline of India and Bangladesh where more than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a frantic evacuation made all the more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Rain clouds hover over the Hooghly River in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyclone has slammed ashore along the coastline...
Rain clouds hover over the Hooghly River in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyclone has slammed ashore along the coastline of India and Bangladesh where more than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a frantic evacuation made all the more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Water waves break on the banks of Hooghly River as an Indian Customs department ship is moored in the mid river in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20,...
Water waves break on the banks of Hooghly River as an Indian Customs department ship is moored in the mid river in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Amphan, a powerful cyclone has slammed ashore along the coastline of India and Bangladesh where more than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a frantic evacuation made all the more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
NEW DELHI (AP) — A powerful cyclone that slammed into coastal India and Bangladesh has left damage difficult to assess Thursday and about 20 deaths.
In Bangladesh up to eight people have died, and 12 deaths were estimated in West Bengal state in India. The deaths in Odisha state are still being assessed. Most of the deaths were due to the collapse of walls, drowning and falling of trees in both countries.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Wednesday night the damage was difficult to assess immediately, pointing out that entire islands had been cut off from the mainland and many areas were left without electricity or phone connectivity.
Banerjee said densely populated regions of south Bengal were among the worst to be damaged.
“We are facing three crises: the coronavirus, the thousands of migrants who are returning home and now the cyclone,” said Banerjee, who is an opposition leader and one of the fiercest critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In Bangladesh, at least a million people are without electricity, according to the Ministry of Power.
The South-Asian country’s Ministry of Disaster Management said hundreds of villages went under water because of tidal surge across the vast coastal region in Bangladesh. It said about a dozen flood protection embankments have been breached.
