One killed, 350 houses destroyed: Short-lived tornadoes ravage Faridpur, B'baria
Jharna Begum, 20, a resident of Hamirdi village at Bhanga upazila in Faridpur is the only reported fatality of the tornadoes
Much like most parts of the country, incessant rain, accompanied by irregular gusty wind, had been falling over Saltha in Faridpur since morning on Thursday. Lipi Begum, a resident of Sonatandi village, had wrapped up her daily chores a bit early in the day to take shelter from the inclement weather inside the safe walls of her house. Around evening, out of the blue, the winds gained remarkable strength, felling a tree on her semi-pucca house. A tornado had hit the area.
"My house got completely wrecked in moments. I somehow saved my life by taking refuge in the bathroom. I thought I was going to die," she told The Business Standard on Friday (6 October), describing the horror.
The tornado lasted nearly three-minutes in Saltha upazila. Lipi, a widow, lost everything except her life during the period.
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Jharna Begum, 20, a resident of Hamirdi village in the adjacent Bhanga upazila was not that lucky. The young woman, wife of Shahabuddin Sheikh, lost her life after being crushed under the wreckage of her house that came crashing down in the disaster. As of 8:00pm Friday, she is the only reported fatality of the tornado.
According to authorities and locals, the tornado wrecked over 330 houses in Faridpur – 200 in Bhanga, over 100 in Alfadanga, and 21 in Saltha – spread over nearly a dozen villages. Hundreds of people were forced to spend the night under open sky in the dark following the sudden disaster.
The violently rotating column of air also caused widespread power outages as electrical posts were damaged. In addition, hundreds of trees were uprooted.
The affected villages include Bidyadhar, Brahman Jatigram, Bejidanga, Mala, Krishnapur, and Titurkandi in Alfadanga upazila; Sonatandi in Saltha upazila; Hamirdi, Patrail, Pukupar, Karnikanda in Bhanga upazila.
"Rainfall continued throughout Thursday. In the afternoon, in just less than a minute, the tornado destroyed nearly a hundred mud houses," Alfadanga Upazila Parishad Chairman AKM Zahidul Hasan Zahid told The Business Standard, describing the impact of the tornado in Alfadanga.
"Besides, at least 300 trees were uprooted," he added.
Zahid said there is no electricity connection in the affected areas. "It may take three to four days for power connections to return to normal."
In Saltha, nearly two dozen houses and numerous trees of Sonatandi village of the upazila were destroyed in the tornado, according to locals.
"At least 21 families of Sonatandi have become destitute. They have no accommodation and food," Ballabhdi UP Chairman Khandkar Saifur Rahman Shahin said.
Local administrations are conducting relief operations in the affected areas.
Faridpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Quamrul Ahsan Talukder said, "The local administrations are already working in the areas to support the victims of the disaster.
"The victims were listed on Friday (6 October). The district administration will provide all possible assistance to the victims."
15 houses destroyed by tornado in Brahmanbaria
Meanwhile, a separate one-minute tornado destroyed at least 15 houses in Sarail, Brahmanbaria on Friday (6 October) afternoon.
Besides, at least 50 trees were uprooted during the disaster but no human casualties were reported, said locals.
The disaster took place at Meratli village of Shahbazpur union of Sarail upazila around 4pm.
Sarail Upazila Executive Officer Md Sarwar Uddin said the families affected by the tornado are being given 30 kg of rice initially.
Further assistance will be provided later after assessing the damages, he said.
Meanwhile, Md Omar Faruq, meteorologist, Storm Warning Center of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told The Business Standard that they had no information regarding the tornadoes.
"We have not heard of any tornadoes in Faridpur or Brahmanbaria. But we know that there has been heavy rainfall in Faridpur on Thursday," he said.
