Cyclone Yaas: Rebuilding effort on, impact yet to be fully assessed

Cyclone Yaas made landfall in eastern India on Wednesday morning but its impact is not over yet as a slight drizzle has been sweeping Satkhira district since Thursday morning.

A vast tract of low-lying land has been inundated, forcing people of different upazilas of the district to take shelter in a safer place.

Besides, hundreds of shrimp enclosures have been washed away by the tidal surge triggered by the Cyclone Yaas, incurring a huge loss to the farmers.

However, the local administration is yet to ascertain the loss caused by the cyclone.

Meanwhile, 44 points of an embankment including 24 points in Shyamnagar upazila, 12 points in Ashashuni upazila, five points in Kaliganj upazila and one point in Debhata upazila have been damaged by the tidal surge as tidal surge went up to 8-9 feet above the normal tide.

Also read - Cyclone Yaas weakens into deep depression

The local people are still working to repair the embankment on their own initiative to save their lands and households.

Koikhali, Gabura, Padmapukur, Burigoalini, Munshiganj, Ramjannagar of Shyamnagar upazila, Pratapnagar and Sreula union of Ashashuni upazila are the worst affected areas as many areas have been flooded by the tidal surge on Wednesday.

Already some 2,500 people have taken shelter in 28 cyclone shelter centers as most of them have lost their dwelling houses.

SM Mostafa Kamal, deputy commissioner of Satkhira district, said “The work to repair the damaged embankment is going on in full swing from Wednesday afternoon and many more workers will join today to complete the work immediately.”

Already Tk2.15 core cash has been disbursed and 163 metric tons of food are in stock to distribute among the cyclone-hit people, he said.