Nineteen people were killed and several thousand houses damaged as the tropical storm buffeted the country’s coastal regions before heading towards Tripura of India as a land depression on Thursday afternoon.
The storm-related deaths were reported from Barguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Pirojpur and Chittagong districts.
Many of the millions who had taken refuge in shelter centers in the coastal districts returned home though many more still living in the open sky as the cyclone Mahasen damaged their houses.
The activities at Shah Amanat International Airport and Chittagong Seaport resumed in full swing on Friday after the suspension of its activities on Wednesday fearing Mahasen’s onslaught.
Squadron leader Rabiul Alam, station manager of the airport, said the activities at the airport resumed in the morning with a domestic flight of Regent Airways from Dhaka landing at the airport at 10:26am.
Various equipment were also moved away from the airport for safety. “The airport activities resumed this morning after reinstalling the apparatus,” Rabiul said.
Meanwhile, the unloading of goods from ships at the Chittagong Seaport, from where vessels were moved away to the outer anchorage on Wednesday for safety, resumed on Friday afternoon.
Power supply to all the 21 districts of the country’s southwest and southeast regions, including Barisal, Bhola, Barguna, Patuakhali and Cox’s Bazar, on Thursday night after the tropical storm Mahasen crossed the country’s coasts, said Saiful Alam, Power Development Board (PDB).
In Barguna, the people who came to the shelter centers fearing havoc by Mahasen returned to their houses and started repairing their damaged houses.
Apart from damaging 15,000 houses partly. Mahasen sent standing crops on some 17,470 hectares of land under water in the district.
In Jhalakati, Mahasen caused huge flood damaging maize and sunflower on a vast track of croplands.
In Patuakhali, district relief and rehabilitation official Shantiranjan Badiya told UNB, “The people of the district returned to their homes. The number of casualties and damages of crops are lesser than apprehended due to early precautionary measures taken by the government.”
In Bhola, many people are still living under the open sky as Mahasen damaged their houses.
Chairman of Char Manika union Rezaul Karim said the tropical storm did not damage much as people feared.
Relieved that the damage much less than apprehended, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed gratitude to the Almighty Allah. In response to her call, people across the country also offered special prayers today.
