Six hours of the crushing winds of Cyclone Amphan left the Kolkata airport flooded and many structures damaged. Seventy-two people died in Bengal from winds at 120 km / hour and heavy rains left a trail of devastation.
The Kolkata airport images showed flooded tarmac, runways and hangars. In one area, the ceiling seemed to have collapsed.
An airplane was seen in knee-deep water.
Two hangars have been damaged beyond repair, but were not used, according to authorities.
All operations at the airport had been closed until 5 am today.
Only cargo and evacuation flights are operating for now, with passenger flights suspended since March 25, when the country entered a blockade to combat the coronavirus.
Amphan crashed into Bengal around 2.30 p.m. Wednesday, uprooting trees, damaging power lines, and destroying many buildings in Kolkata and other parts of the state.
"Sarbanash hoye gaul (it's a catastrophe)," said Bengal's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, who remained in her office during the storm.
Banerjee said Amphan's impact was worse than the coronavirus pandemic. She claimed that the cyclone could have caused damage worth Rs 1 lakh crore.
"Area after area has been devastated. Communications are disrupted," Banerjee said, adding that although 5 lakh people were evacuated, state authorities had not fully anticipated the ferocity of the storm.
The cyclone passed mainly north and south of 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Hooghly and Kolkata.
From NDTV News
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