A string of concurrent nor’westers, or Kalboishaki storms, disrupted life across the country on Tuesday, leaving dozens injured.
In Hili, a hailstorm on Tuesday afternoon went on for half an hour and was followed by another hour of rainfall. This inflicted damage in the mango orchards across the district.
The hailstorm also halted operations at the Hili land port, disrupting import and export activities. Operations later resumed after a few hours.
Shamima Nazneen, agriculture officer of Hakimpur upazila, said the hailstorm had affected mango orchards, but not paddy fields, as rice paddies still have not matured to their full extent.
In Nilphamari, a hailstorm impacted mango and lychee (litchi) orchards across the district, but farmers said it favoured Boro plantations.
In Jaipurhat, the villages of Naoda and Baguan under the Pachbibi upazila were ravaged by a nor’wester, damaging at least 50-60 homes and shops in the region.
At least 20 people were injured, and were later admitted to the Jaipurhat Adhunik Hospital.
In Jhenaidah, scores of farmlands were ravaged by a hailstorm on Tuesday, which affected several crops such as paddy, betel, mangoes, lychee (litchi) and others.
Farmers in the region said their paddy sheaves were damaged. They fear at least 40% of their crops have been damaged, leaving them non-cultivable.
Earlier, three fishermen, out of the five that went missing after the nor’wester hit river Padma, Manikganj on Sunday evening were found dead on Tuesday morning.
The other two are still missing.
Fire service rescued the bodies that were floating on the river.
Confirming the news to the Dhaka Tribune, Mizanur Rahman, deputy assistant director of the Manikganj Fire Service and Civil Defence, Aminur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Harirampur police station and Mizanur Rahman, Shibalaya police station OC said locals spotted the bodies floating in the river and Fire Service rescuers later recovered the bodies.
