<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The severe cyclonic storm Remal affected four lakh people, damaging 50,000 homesteads, uprooting trees, breaking electric and telephone poles, causing a wind-driven surge inundating a vest area of Sundarbans and embankments in low-lying regions, an official said.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"At least four lakh people of 68 unions in nine upazilas of Khulna have been affected by 'Remal'," said District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Abdul Karim.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Hundreds of shrimp enclosures have been washed away, a huge number of thatched houses and standing crops were damaged while trees, electricity and telephone poles were uprooted. Many villages were also submerged by the tidal surge," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Khulna District Administration, Mongla Port Authority, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) of Mongla West Zone, Fire Service and Civil Defence are working to rehabilitate the affected coastal people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As part of the immediate response, more than 2 lakh people were successfully evacuated and moved to 604 cyclone centres before the 'Remal' hit the region, said Deputy Commissioner of Khulna Khondokar Yasir Arefin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over 5,500 volunteers from different organisations, including Red Crescent and CPP, are working in different regions, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added that 1,100 more volunteers from non-government organizations (NGOs) are also in action as 168 medical teams with health workers are working at cyclone-affected upazilas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abdul Karim said the "fear of major disaster” due to severe cyclonic storm is mostly over as the district administration took appropriate precautionary measures to cope with the disaster.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He, however, said in some places, fallen trees have halted traffic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">No casualty is reported due to the storm as a few people were injured in coastal areas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abdul Karim said about 2.5-lakh metric tonnes of rice, Taka 5-lakh in cash and 2,000 packets of dry food have, so far, been distributed in Koyra, Dakop and Paikgachha upazilas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The operation of Mongla Port has already resumed, said Md Makruzzaman, Secretary of Mongla Port Authority (MPA).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"No damage took place as the port authority has taken massive preparation earlier," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Talking to BSS, Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, DFO of Sundarban West, said the intensity of damage in Sundarban could not be known immediately.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Around 61 kilometers of embankments in Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat have been damaged partially, Water Development Board (WDB) officials said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hundreds of villages in Koyra, Paikgachha and Dakop upazilas of Khulna were inundated due to heavy rain and saline water that entered by breaking embankments in different points, sub-divisional engineer Liakat Ali of WDB confirmed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">UNO of Koyra Tarik Uzzaman and UP Chairman Abdullah Al Mamun of Bedkashi of Koyra said villagers are voluntarily trying to repair embankments to stop intruding saline water, reports BSS</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Electricity supply was hampered in different coastal villages till the filing of this report, sources said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>