By Bhupen Goswami,

Guwahati : Twelve reported dead in India and Twenty in Bangladesh as storm uproots trees and floods croplands. Thirtty two people have died and more than two million others have spent a night huddled in storm shelters after Cyclone Bulbul hit the coasts of India and Bangladesh with fierce gales and torrential rain, officials said on today. The cyclone packed winds of up to 120km/h (75mph) when it hit late on Saturday, forcing the closure of ports and airports in both countries. Twelve people were killed in India’s West Bengal state, including two after uprooted trees fell on their homes and another after being struck by falling branches in Kolkata. Two others died in nearby Odisha state. In Bangladesh, twenty people were killed – five by falling trees – and at least 20 people were injured.

Five others are missing after a fishing trawler sank in bad weather on the Meghna river near the southern island of Bhola, Authorities said the cyclone was weakening as it moved inland. “It has turned into a deep depression, causing heavy rainfall,” Bangladesh weather bureau deputy chief said.Bulbul hit the coast at the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest which straddles Bangladesh and India, and is home to endangered species including Bengal tigers and Irrawaddy dolphins. The mangroves shielded the coast from the storm’s full impact. Some 2.1 million people across Bangladesh were relocated to cyclone shelters.Troops were sent to coastal districts while tens of thousands of volunteers went door-to-door and used loudspeakers to urge people to evacuate their villages. In India, nearly 120,000 people who were evacuated started to return home as the cyclone weakened, authorities said. “The storm has left a trail of destruction as it’s crossed the coastline of West Bengal,and the Northeastern  state’s .