Cyclone Bulbul claims 5 lives as it lashes coastal districts

• Five people were killed by cyclone, while two died at shelter centres
• Cyclonic 'Bulbul' weakens into a deep depression
• Danger signal lowered to number 3 in all seaports and number 2 at the land ports
• Ships and fishing boats are not allowed to operate yet
• Ferry services resume, launches are yet to be allowed to voyage
• Chattogram airport resumes operations in the morning
• Three deaths reported in West Bengal and Odisha last night

At least five people were killed and many injured as cyclone Bulbul lashed the coastal districts of Bangladesh since early Sunday. Two more died at shelter centres in Patuakhali and Barguna.

In Patuakhali, an elderly person was killed after an uprooted tree fell on him in the morning in Mirjaganj. The deceased is Hamid Fakir, 65. Another woman named- Sufia Begum, 65, died at Kalapara shelter centre. 

Meanwhile, a fisherman - Belal, 40, died after falling off a trawler while returning from the sea. His body was recovered from Kuakata beach.

In Bagerhat, a teenage girl was killed and two others injured after a tree fell on her house at 10am Sunday in Rampal area. The deceased is Samia Khatun, 15, daughter of Abdul Jabbar of Varasapur village.

In Khulna, another elderly woman was killed as a coconut tree fell on her hut in Dacope Upazila in the morning. Pramila Mandal, 52, came to her residence to take necessaries at around 10am from nearby shelter centre. At that time a tree fell on her home, leaving her dead on the spot.

A man named Alamgir, 35, was killed in Dhigoliya upazila of Khulna after a tree fell on him during a stormy weather at 9.30am.

Meanwhile, an elderly woman died at DN College shelter centre in Barguna Sadar upazila last night. The deceased is Halima Khatun, 65. She reportedly died of old age complications.

At least 15 people were injured and 22 shanties damaged in Lalmohon and Char Fasson upazilas as cyclone Bulbul hit the coastal belt of Bhola early today.

Cyclone Bulbul has hit the Gabura and Padmapukur unions of coastal Satkhira district early Sunday and continues to cause havoc there.

Burigoalini Union Parishad Chairman Bhobotosh Mondal said, "The gusty wind of the cyclonic storm destroyed the communication system in that area and swept away the fish hatcheries.

"More than 2,000 makeshift huts in the union were wrecked and many people were trapped under the chunk of earth. We are trying to rescue them."

Cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' over Khulna and adjoining northwestern part of Bangladesh moved slowly northwestwards and weekend further into a deep depression.

The depression was lying over Bagerhat, Barishal and Patuakhali regions at 6 am on Sunday, said a Met office bulletin on Sunday adding that it is likely to move in a northwesterly direction further and weaken gradually.

Under its influence step pressure gradient persists over North Bay and southern part of the country.

The Met Office has advised Mongla and Payra ports to hoist local cautionary signal No 3 instead of great danger signal No 10. 

Chattogram port has also been advised to lower great danger signal No 9 and hoist local cautionary signal No 3.

Coastal districts have started experiencing rainfall and gusty wind since early Sunday under the impact of the cyclonic storm Bulbul as it is crossing the coastline of Bangladesh. 

Our Khulna and Bagerhat correspondents said stormy weather with gusty wind is prevailing in the region and low-lying lands have been inundated. 

All operational activities at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram have returned to normal at 7am today after a 15-hour halt since Saturday afternoon.

Cyclone Bulbul entered the coast of Bangladesh after making landfall in Sagar Islands of West Bengal, India on Saturday night. Gradually, it weakened.

Three people have been killed in West Bengal and Odisha due to heavy rain caused by the severe cyclonic storm Bulbul, reports Hindustan Times. Coastal areas of West Bengal including Digha, Howrah, Hooghly, 24 Parganas, Medinipur witnessed winds in excess of 100 kmph. In Kolkata, winds were in excess of 70-80 kmph.

Amirul Azad, officer of Khulna Met Office, said: "The cyclone will complete crossing the Sundarbans coast in Khulna by midnight."

Dubla Fishermen Group's Chairman Kamal Uddin Ahmed said: "Cyclone Bulbul hit Dublar Char around 10:30pm with a wind speed of 120 kmph. However, it did not seem so strong." 

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting on the post-disaster activities of Bangladesh Army took place in Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer's (UNO) office on Saturday night. 

UNO M Kamruzzaman said, "We talked about rescuing people from the remote areas if those areas get affected by the cyclone. The army team told us that they are always prepared and they will start their rescue operation whenever necessary."

The government formed 1,577 medical teams and opened 4,516 shelters in the coastal districts.

The holidays of November 9 and 10 have been cancelled for all employees of the Department of Engineering, Public Health Engineering and local government institutions in 13 coastal districts to tackle cyclone Bulbul.

Why is the cyclone named Bulbul?

The cyclone "Bulbul" has been named by Pakistan. Bulbul is the name of a bird species. In 2000, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand had come together to assign names to tropical cyclones originating over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The storm before Bulbul was named Maha by Oman. The one after this will be called Pawan, named by Sri Lanka.

Tropical cyclone Matmo was reborn as Bulbul. Matmo had just revived itself after travelling about 1,800km (1,118 miles) over land. This is an unusual, but not unique, event.

Matmo was formed in the Philippine Sea, the birthplace of so many tropical cyclones, on October 24. It formally became a tropical storm in the South China Sea on October 30, after having enhanced the rain over the central Philippines, causing floods.