By IANS
Kolkata : Kolkata breathed easy Friday as Cyclone Sidr veered off shortly before midnight and slammed into Bangladesh, wreaking havoc in the neighbouring country.
“The danger is finally over. Bengal has been spared. The supercyclone has slammed into Bangladesh,” said Alipore meteorological office director Gokul Chandra Debnath.
There would be some residual impact but far less than what might have been had the cyclone hit the city.
“There is likely to be heavy rainfall in the next two days,” Debnath told IANS.
Thirty mud houses in Sagar Island in South 24-Parganas collapsed in their brush with Cyclone Sidr but no casualties were reported.
The ‘red message’ by the meteorological department that a storm named ‘Sidr’ could hit the city late Thursday or Friday morning had created panic with people stocking up on candles, matches, food and water.
The overcast skies since early Thursday and the steady drizzle added to the panic.
The West Bengal government had Thursday issued a cyclone alert for Kolkata and six coastal districts of the state and announced an advance grant of Rs.150 million.
As local television channels ran bulletins about the storm and its direction, most offices closed early Thursday to allow employees to reach their homes early. These included BPO firms like TCS and Cognizant Solutions which operate 24X7.
Wipro BPO issued an advisory to its night shift employees not to step out of office while Acclaris, another city-based BPO, did not operate its night shift.
The Calcutta Port pegged the danger signal at the highest level of 10, while Eastern and South Eastern Railway shut down several sections from 11 p.m. till 5 a.m. Friday.
US government establishments in the city – The American Consulate, American Center and American Library – announced that their offices would remain closed on Friday due to “unanticipated severe weather conditions”.
The British, German and Japanese consulates warned their nationals and advised them to store water, food and medicines and keep flashlights and radio sets handy.