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Cyclone batters India and Bangladesh coasts, millions flee

Posted at 3:13 PM, May 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-20 15:15:43-04

A powerful cyclone is plowing inland after battering the coasts of India and Bangladesh.

More than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a frantic evacuation made more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic.

Cyclone Amphan is the equivalent of a category-3 hurricane and is packing sustained winds of up to 105 miles per hour.

Authorities warn it could cause destroy flimsy houses and that a storm surge may push seawater inland. That could mean flooding for crowded cities like Kolkata.

The densely populated region has some of the most vulnerable communities in South Asia, poor fishing communities and over a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Video source: Uday Pratap Singh