8.53 lakh people affected by Cyclone Yaas

Some 8.53 lakh people in the coastal districts have been devastated by Cyclone Yaas as storm surge overflooded the coastal belt during the high tide, said the government estimation.

The latest death toll on Thursday reached nine from Wednesday's three.

Md Atiqul Haque, director general of the Department of Disaster Management, 8,500 houses at 442 upazilas entirely ravaged by the disaster while other 21,000 residences got damaged partially.

"These are the initial data we received from the deputy commissioners. We will verify it," he told The Business Standard.

"We provided the relief materials in advance and the cyclone shelters were also ready. People were not taken to the shelters as the cyclone did not hit the country directly."

The disaster management department director general said 16,500 packets of food items have been sent to 27 upazilas in nine districts. The relief will support 16,500 families for one week.

There were developing news on Thursday too that many fish enclosures have been washed away, livestock got killed and coastal dams have been damaged at multiple points.

Yaas made the landfall on India's Odisha coast on Wednesday noon, and moved as a cyclonic storm and further into a deep depression towards Jharkhand.

On Thursday evening, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) advised the maritime ports to hoist local cautionary signal number three. The deep-sea bound fishing boats and trawlers were asked not to leave the harbors.

The BMD warned of gusty winds at 50-60 km per hour and water level to rise 2-4 feet more during the tide than usual.

Three deaths have been reported in Odisha and one in West Bengal in the cyclone. Besides, the Indian media reported that 3 lakh houses have been damaged as the number of affected people was around 1 crore. India evacuated 16 lakh people from their residences to cyclone shelters.

Ponds adjacent to Sundarbans turn salty

Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, divisional forest officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans West Forest Division, said salt water had entered 53 of the 54 ponds in the western part of the mangrove forest.

He said the saline water will cause a water crisis for the wildlife.

Moinuddin Khan, Sundarbans forest conservator (Khulna Circle), said their 15 wooden docks and 83 outposts in the forest got damaged by the cyclone. He also said that they rescued some wild animals alive as the storm surges overflooded the rivers inside the forest. 

Fishes worth Tk34 crore washed away in Satkhira

Fish farms at ten unions of Shyamnagar and Ashashuni Upazila of Satkhira were severely damaged due to Cyclone Yaas. Some 4,500 fish enclosures were washed away as water overflowed the embankments.

"The total losses amount to at least Tk34 crore," said Satkhira District Fisheries Officer Moshiur Rahman.

He feared the damages could mount up further as new areas can get flooded on Wednesday night too.

He said, "Cyclone Yaas caused more destruction than Cyclone Amphan. The fish in the enclosures were matured and almost ready for sale."

People of 20 villages stranded in Noakhali

Thousands of people have been stranded in at least 20 villages in Noakhali's island upazila Hatiya.

Lima Akhter, a 7-year-old kid who was swept away by the tidal surge, remained missing at Sukhchar union until 11pm Thursday.

At least 4,000 deer from Nijhum Dwip came to the locality in search of shelter. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Imran Hossain said the deer entered the locality as the water level was 5-6 feet higher during the tide on Thursday afternoon than usual.

3,000 families surrounded by water in Bagerhat

At least 3,000 families in south-western district Bagerhat have become stranded in submerged villages as the local rivers swelled up due to Yaas.

The stranded villagers said they could not prepare the meals as the district administration distributed dry food items among them. The flooding suspended the road transport in many areas.

Rain likely on Friday too

In the next 24 hours until Friday evening, rain accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places in Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions and at a one or two places in Sylhet, Dhaka, Barishal and Chattogram divisions with moderately heavy falls at places in Rangpur, Khulna and Rajshahi divisions, said the the meteorological department.

The department said temperature across the country may remain unchanged.