DEATH AND DAMAGE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22476, 11 January 1943, Page 2

DEATH AND DAMAGE

Cyclone Sweeps Bengal KILLED EXCEED 11,000 LONDON, Jan. 8. It is now revealed that 3000 miles of country were affected bv the terrific cyclone which swept Bengal last October, when at least 11,000 people were killed. The cyclone swept up a tidal wave 20 feet high from the Bay of Bengal. It devastated a Considerable area. About 25,000 dwellings were destroyed and almost every house throughr-t the area was damaged. Seventy-five thousand head of cattle, which was threequarters of the stock in the area perished. More than 1,000,000 persons are affected. 500.000 of whom suffered severe loss or injury. An eye-witness said that houses fell as though made of paper. Iron roofs crushed many to death in the streets. Uprooted trees blew away like straws. The roaring wind and rain, coupled with the crashing and crack'mg of houses and trees, made speech inaudible. Thousands of poisonous snakes and crocodiles floating on the flood waters made rescue difficult. Innumerable bodies, within a few days, filled the air with a foul stench. One person of 150 survived in one village, and 132 families of 136 were wiped out in another village. The full extent of the disaster was not revealed previously because the information would have been valuable b> t.h° Jananese. Communications were so seriously disrupted that the Japanese might have taken advantage of the district’s plight.