Cyclone Amphan loss estimated at $13 billion in India, may rise in Bangladesh

A powerful cyclone that tore through India’s eastern state of West Bengal this week has caused a damage of 1 trillion rupees ($13 billion) to infrastructure and crops, state officials said.

Neighbouring Bangladesh also fell in Cyclone Amphan’s path on Wednesday, initially said it had suffered a loss of 11 billion taka ($130 million). But this could rise, government officials said.

The two countries have lost at least 102 people in the cyclone, the most powerful in over a decade, mostly because of house collapses and electrocution. More than 3 million people were evacuated before Amphan made landfall, preventing a large number of deaths.

The cyclone has affected more than 13 million people – some losing houses, crops and lands – and over 1.5 million houses have been damaged, two West Bengal government officials told Reuters.