The mighty wind and storm (120 km/hour) caused by cyclone Amphan left the airport flooded. The cyclone stayed in the city for six hours, caused damage to several structures and as per reports, claimed 72 lives in Bengal.
All the passenger flights were suspended in Kolkata in March after the nationwide lockdown was announced to fight the deadly Coronavirus. Till now, only cargo and evacuation flights were operational. But, after the news of the cyclone, all the airport operations were shut till 5 AM today.
The cyclone hit Bengal around 2.30 PM on Wednesday and caused a lot of damage. From uprooting trees and destroying the electricity lines to hitting several buildings in the city, Amphan wrecked havoc in the state.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Kolkata Mamta Banerjee has announced a compensation of INR 2.5 lakh to the families of those who died in the cyclone.
The National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) is carrying out restoration work and clearing roads of Alipore region as a number of trees were uprooted. Most parts of the Kolkata airport are badly flooded and the whole city is in a bad condition due to the cyclone. Mostly, coastal districts and East Midnapore regions were severely affected by Amphan.
As per current updates, the Kolkata airport has resumed operations from this afternoon.