At least 24 dead in Bangladesh from tropical storm

At least 24 people were killed and approximately 8 million people were left without electricity in Bangladesh after a tropical cyclone, according to authorities and press reports on Tuesday.

According to the administration, more than 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of crops were destroyed, and about 10,000 dwellings were damaged. Additionally, countless fishing ventures were washed away.

According to the United News of Bangladesh news agency, flooding brought on by tidal surges left nearly 20,000 people stranded in the southern coastal area of Bhola.

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated to cyclone shelters on Monday as Tropical Storm Sitrang developed in the Bay of Bengal before heading north toward Bangladesh's extensive coast. 

All day long, Bangladesh was hammered by heavy rains, which caused widespread flooding in the coastal districts of southern and southwestern Bangladesh.

Tuesday afternoon, the storm's winds dropped to a maximum sustained speed of 65 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour) with wind gusts of up to 85 kph (53 mph). The threat has gone, according to the weather office in the capital, Dhaka, which on Monday night recorded gusts of up to 88 kph (55 mph).

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, neither significant flooding nor damage to camps holding 30,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char island nor another 1 million in Cox's Bazar district were reported.

In 2017, a military-led "clearing operation" forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee from neighbouring Myanmar, which has a majority of Buddhists, into Bangladesh. Security personnel in Myanmar were charged with mass rapes, deaths, and torching of thousands of Rohingya-owned residences.

After a dredger capsized in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, eight dead were discovered on Tuesday, according to Minhazur Rahman, a government official in Mirshorai, Chattogram. According to him, the sea was still rough on Tuesday.

A tree collapsed on a family's home as two parents and their 4-year-old daughter were sleeping late on Monday night, according to Raihan Mehbub, an official in Cumilla district.

According to Somoy TV, based in Dhaka, at least 13 other people perished in various instances around the nation. The majority of fatalities were caused by falling trees, although other causes included drowning and collapsed buildings, according to local media.

According to Nasrul Hamid, junior minister for power and mineral resources, out of a total of 48 million consumers, 8 million were still without energy as a result of distribution lines being damaged by falling trees or electric poles being knocked over, especially in rural areas.

Power distribution, according to him, wouldn't return to normal until Wednesday.

About 10,000 dwellings were damaged or destroyed nationwide, according to Enamur Rahman, junior minister for disaster management and assistance.

After 21 hours of closure, the government reopened three airports on Tuesday.

The government requested fishing boats to return from the deep sea and remain anchored in the Bay of Bengal on Monday. It also closed the three airports and stopped all river vessel operations throughout the nation.

More than 160 million people live in the delta nation of Bangladesh, which is vulnerable to cyclones and floods.

Climate scientists claim that numerous natural disasters in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries are caused by climate change.