Howrah, May 20: The roof of a school building in Howrah blew off as Cyclone Amphan battered West Bengal. In a video posted by news agency ANI, the roof of a school building was seen being blown off. Similarly, the strong winds and heavy rains also damaged Police barricading at Howrah Bridge. The severe cyclonic storm, said to be the most intense since 1999, unleashed its fury in the state hours after landfall on Wednesday. Cyclone Amphan Fury in West Bengal: 3 Dead, Several Houses Battered, Power Cut Off in Kolkata.

The cyclonic storm damaged over 5,500 houses in the state. The extremely severe cyclone also claimed three lives and power supply had been cut in Kolkata as the cyclone hit the state. Cyclone Amphan: All Operations At Kolkata Airport Suspended Till 5 AM on May 21.

ANI Tweet:

Amphan cyclone made landfall at around 4 pm between West Bengal's Digha and Bangladesh's Hatiya. Ahead of the landfall, Bengal and Odisha governments evacuated an estimated 6.58 lakh people based in coastal areas.

"The forward sector of the wall cloud region is entering into land in West Bengal. The intensity of the cyclone near its centre as the landfall process started was recorded at 160-170 kmph, gusting to 190 kmph," said the statement issued by India Meteorological Department.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 20, 2020 10:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).