NEW DELHI, May 25 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and 40 houses were damaged in India's eastern state of West Bengal Tuesday during a tornado ahead of cyclone Yaas, local media quoting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as having said.
The two persons were killed due to electrocution in Hooghly district, about 54 km north of Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal.
"Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today that two people died after being electrocuted during a tornado at Chinsura," a local television channel NDTV, quoted Banerjee as having said during a press conference. "The tornado, which lasted for a minute and a half, and destroyed 40 houses."
Cyclone Yaas is expected to hit the West Bengal-Odisha coast on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the chief minister, nearly 900,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas to various relief centres.
"We have evacuated around nine lakh (900,000) people in view of cyclone Yaas. We are monitoring the situation round the clock. We have set up war rooms at block levels and senior officials have been given responsibilities to oversee coordination. The chief secretary and home secretary are constantly in touch with the district magistrates," she said. Enditem
