DIGHA: At least five people died on Wednesday as howling winds and waves the height of double-decker buses belted eastern India in the Covid-stricken country’s second cyclone in as many weeks.

Cyclones are a regular menace in the northern Indian Ocean but many scientists say they are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change warms the waters of the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

Barely a week after Cyclone Tauktae claimed at least 155 lives in western India, Cyclone Yaas has forced the evacuation of 1.5 million people in West Bengal and Odisha.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the seaside town of Digha had been “swamped” by waves up to four metres (13 feet) high.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2021