Thursday, March 24 2005 19:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: A severe Nor'wester left 13 dead and several injured as it swept through six West Bengal districts damaging thousands of dwellings, snapped power and telephone lines, as the administration alerted against a fresh storm striking this evening (March 24, 2005).

Though the official death toll was four, three in lightning and one in wall-collapse, unofficial sources put it at 13. The deaths were caused by lightning, wall collapse and falling trees in Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad, Nadia, Bardhaman, North and South 24 Parganas districts.

The weatherman said that a Nor'wester accompanied by intermittent showers lashed the six districts in the last 24 hours ending this afternoon, and warned of the possibility of another storm in the evening.

Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said that reports available indicated that the storm caused damage in Nadia and Bardhaman districts and asked the relief department to keep watch on the situation and ready relief materials.

"A large number of houses were damaged in a number of districts, while a few died and many were injured," he said.

Relief Minister H A Sairani said since yesterday (March 23, 2005) nor'westers and rain damaged about 3,000 houses in Nadia, 4,000 in North 24 Parganas and 120 houses in Jalpaiguri districts.

He said that deaths were reported from Khandakosh in Bardhaman, one from Santipur in Nadia districts.

He said that a storm accompanied by thundershowers was likely to lash East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly and North 24-Parganas this evening with a wind speed of 70 to 80 Kmph.