Cyclone Yaas: Villages submerged in WB's East Midnapore, ops underway to rescue stranded people

By Syeda Shabana Parveen
Midnapore East (West Bengal) [India], March 26 (ANI): After cyclone Yaas made its landfall and left behind a trail of destruction in West Bengal, the state government with the help of Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are working together to rescue people stuck due to a surge in water levels.
Several villages in East Midnapore have been submerged in water due to the overflow of seawater and heavy rains.

Talgachhari-ii village in East Midnapore is completely submerged in water. Army, NDRF and State administration are working together to rescue people who are stranded in their houses due to the overflow of water, the government officials said. The NDRF is using three boats to evacuate people.

Souvik Ghosh, a Panchayat Development officer, told ANI, "We have never experienced such a situation. We had warned people about the cyclone and rescued those living in kutcha houses...People are still stuck inside their houses and we are rescuing them."
Pradeep, Sub-Inspector of NDRF (2nd battalion), said, "The NDRF has joined hands with the administration and rescued hundreds of villagers. The operations are still underway."
The severe cyclonic storm Yaas will gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm during the next three hours, informed the India Meteorological Department on Wednesday. "It is likely to move Northwestwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm during the next three hours," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said at 5 pm.
Meanwhile, Odisha shifted 5.8 lakh people to safer places, while West Bengal moved 15 lakh people ahead of the cyclone. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that 10 million people were affected by the cyclone in the state and 3 lakh houses were damaged due to the cyclone. (ANI)