Cyclone Aila pounds Orissa, West Bengal

KOLKATA: Three people were killed here on Monday as cyclone Aila crossed the coast into West Bengal. There was no information from the coastal Cyclone Aila Women struggle with their umbrellas against a strong wind and rain in Kolkata after the cyclone hit the state districts, where extensive damage was feared, IAN reported.

As the cyclone that had formed in the Bay of Bengal hit Kolkata around 11 am on Monday, a large number of trees were uprooted, blocking major roads. The three victims, one in north Kolkata and two in the south, were killed by falling trees or house collapses, officials said.

Weather officials were expecting the wind speed to pick up to 100-120 km per hour as the full fury of the cyclone hits Kolkata by the evening.

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the army had been asked to stand by for rescue operations.

Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) Javed Shamim told IANS that "boats have been kept ready for emergency evacuation" of people from low lying areas of the city.

Normal life hit by heavy rains as cyclone pounds Orissa: PTI
BHUBANESWAR: Normal life was disrupted in several parts of coastal Orissa as heavy rains accompanied by high-velocity wind pounded many areas today under the impact of a cyclonic storm.

Low-lying areas were inundated in coastal districts like Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts due to incessant rains since Sunday, damaging around 400 thatched huts, sources said adding no loss of life has been reported so far.

A large number of trees were uprooted and branches broken in Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack districts as gale with speed up to 100 kmph swept the coast, blocking several roads and disrupting vehicular movement.

Water logging also affected road traffic in several places in Cuttack, Paradip and Jagatsinghpur, giving a tough time to office goers, they said adding electricity supply was also hit in many places.

In the capital city of Bhubanesawar, power supply was disrupted for about seven hours in several localities including Bapuji Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Patia, Chandrasekharpur and Jayadev Vihar this morning.

Many parts of Balasore district also remained without electricity for over eight hours, sources said.

Low lying areas of Cuttack like Sutahat, Friends Colony, Patapola and Police Colony were flooded due to incessant rainfall.