Kolkata, May 25: At least two persons were electrocuted to death and around 80 houses partly damaged after a storm, which West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described as a "tornado", hit Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts on Tuesday.

The natural event struck hours before cyclone 'Yaas' makes landfall near Dhamra Port in Odisha's Bhadrak district early on Wednesday, in the wake of which the Bengal government has evacuated over nine lakh people to safe shelters.

"This was unexpected... The tornado wreaked havoc in Chinsurah, partly damaging 40 houses. Two persons were also electrocuted to death," she told reporters. Cyclone Yaas: Flight Operation at Kolkata Airport Suspended from 8:30 AM to 7:45 PM on May 26.

In North 24 Parganas district's Halisahar, the "tornado" lasted a little over a minute, impacting 40 houses and injuring five people, the CM said. The injured were taken to hospital by local panchayat members, Banerjee added.

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