2.5m REB customers without electricity after cyclone

About 2.5 million customers of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board or BREB  in nine coastal districts are yet to get back their power connection after Cyclone Bulbul made landfall on Saturday night, officials say.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 Nov 2019, 11:38 AM
Updated : 11 Nov 2019, 12:44 PM

“About 70,000 kilometres of power transmission lines have been damaged in the districts as the cyclone uprooted electricity poles, transformers, and insulators worth about Tk 70 million,” a BREB official told bdnews24.com.

Customers in the 70 to 80 percent of the affected areas are expected to have power restored partly on Monday, according to the official. And the remaining customers will get back electricity by Tuesday, he said.

The storm made landfall near Sagar Islands in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district with its status downgraded to “severe” from “very severe” about 9pm on Saturday as the gale wind speed dropped to about 115-125km per hour.

The cyclone -- later downgraded to a deep depression -- ravaged about 5,000 homes in Bangladesh’s south-western coastal districts. Trees were uprooted and winter crops were damaged by the storm.

The health directorate's Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room, local administrations and police confirmed 13 deaths in the storm on Sunday.