Mini tornados hit Bandel in Hooghly district and Halisahar in North 24 Parganas

Kolkata, May 25 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said a couple of mini tornados hit Bandel in Hooghly district and Halisahar in North 24 Parganas district.

Ms Banerjee said that two people died due to electrocution at Chinsurah in Hooghly district due to a tornado ahead of the landfall of cyclone Yaas.

“Two people died due to electrocution in Hooghly’s Chinsurah today. In another incident in Halisahar, 40 houses were also damaged due to the tornado. At least four to five people suffered minor injuries in this incident. We are getting information that a few people were also injured,” she said

Ms Banerjee urged people not to panic and advised against stepping out on Wednesday unless absolutely necessary.

The chief minister also expressed condolences after two people lost their lives in a lightning strike in Chihsurah in Hooghly district.

Meanwhile, State Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar went to the cyclone control room at state secretariat Nabanna and met Banerjee this evening to discuss the preparedness to handle the cyclone.

Later, Dhankhar tweeted, “Have spoken to Chief Minister @MamataOfficial as regards update #CycloneYaas. At Control Room #CycloneYaas with Chief Minister @MamataOfficial and official. Had useful briefing and interaction.”

It has been learnt that Ms Banerjee will be stationed at the control room from tonight and will remain there till tomorrow.

“I have spoken to all the district magistrates on Cyclone Yaas. I will stay in Nabanna (the state secretariat) tonight. I will monitor the situation closely,” the chief minister said.

Ms Banerjee said 54,000 officers and relief workers, 2 lakh police and Home Guard personnel, along with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, will be deployed to tackle the fallout of the storm.