GAIBANDHA — A storm in the Rajahar union of Gobindaganj upazila in Gaibandha damaged more than 300 homes and educational institutions, knocking down electricity poles and tilting several others. Between 300 and 400 families have been left without power, and many of the affected families have taken shelter in local schools.
Rajahar union council chairman Rafiqul Islam confirmed the damage on Monday evening. The storm hit around 10 p.m. Sunday and caused extensive damage in villages in wards 3 and 4 of the union.
According to local sources, at least 300 homes were destroyed in the high winds. Tin roofs were torn off many houses and dropped in distant farm fields. Trees were uprooted, and educational institutions were also damaged. Electricity poles were broken or left leaning in several places. As a result, several hundred families in the area have been without power since Sunday night.
Rafiqul Islam, the Rajahar union council chairman, said wards 3 and 4 of the union had been hit hard by the overnight storm. About 300 to 400 homes had been damaged, he said, and many families had been forced to take temporary shelter in schools because they had nowhere to live.
Ward 3 member Obaidul Islam said at least 300 homes had been damaged in his ward. Houses, kitchens and cattle sheds had all been destroyed, he said, and the entire area had been left without electricity after power poles snapped.
He added that the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) had visited the affected area and ordered officials to prepare a list of affected families. Two schools have been designated as temporary shelters for those who have lost their homes.
Ward 4 member Bulu Mia said more than 100 homes had been damaged in his ward. A wall under construction at the Muktijoddha School Technical and College had also collapsed, he said, with the institution’s roofing, wood and bamboo scattered across the fields.
Rashed Abdullah, general manager of the Palli Bidyut rural electricity board for the Gobindaganj zone, said two power poles in the Rajahar union area had snapped and seven or eight others had tilted in the storm, leaving between 300 and 400 families without electricity since Sunday.
Repair work on the damaged power lines is under way, he said, and crews are trying to restore service as quickly as possible.
Gobindaganj UNO Syeda Yasmin Sultana, who visited the affected area, could not be reached despite repeated phone calls.
Gaibandha Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Masudur Rahman Molla said by mobile phone that the UNO had visited the area damaged by the overnight storm. He said 142 affected families were being given immediate assistance of 4.260 metric tonnes of rice and 426,000 taka. The full extent of damage was being assessed, he said, and the families would later receive additional support including agricultural aid.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report