The super cyclone Amphan remained on track and stuck to the timelines, refuting a common charge of storms playing truant. The storm after swirling inland across Sunderban went on devastating spree demolishing structures along its swath. The nightmare started for the capital city Kolkata soon after Amphan making landfall near Digha. The city experienced winds in excess of 100kmh for hours together. This was accompanied by torrential rains nearly lasting for 24 hours, with little respite in between.
The city observatory Alipore recorded 236.6mm of rain in 24hr, an all-time record in the month of May. With this the city has recorded 328mm rain in this month beating the earlier all-time figures. The capital city of colonial architecture has never witnessed such severe weather in the past. The storm uprooted umpteen number of trees, snapped power lines, blown rooftops, and leveled weak and kutcha structures. In the aftermath of the storm, the rail, road, and air operations are likely to be restricted due to infrastructural damage. Flooded vast stretches and inundating low lying areas are hurdles to the relief and rehabilitation of masses marooned by the calamity. Restoration of 5 lakh evacuees is going to be a daunting task and a big challenge for the disaster management team.
The only solace that the weather is no longer going to play a spoilsport in the relief operations. The increase in moisture left behind the stormy activity along with the heat may give few localized showers. Hot and humid conditions with maximum and minimum temperatures in the range of low 30’s and mid 20’s are likely for the next couple of days.
