A nor’wester coupled with hailstorm and thunderstorm hit Joypurhat, Thakurgaon and Nilphamari districts on Friday midnight, leaving one dead and destroying houses, trees and vast croplands.
Sanjay Kumar Mandal, 28, was killed when a tree fell on him in Joypurhat Sadar Upazila as the storm started around 9:30pm.
Shafiqul Islam, deputy director of Joypurhat Department of Agricultural Extension, said Boro paddy, jute, corn and banana on 12,700 hectares of land in the district had been damaged during the two-hour storm.
Meanwhile, a storm swept over Thakurgaon around 12:10am on Saturday with heavy rain, hailstorm. It lasted for around 40 minutes.
Hundreds of trees including a century-old Pakur tree on Thakurgaon Government Boys’ School premises were uprooted during the storm that lashed the city and adjacent villages.
Road communications were disrupted by broken tree branches while tin roofs of many houses were seen blown away in the affected areas.
Electricity supply was snapped in many areas though it was restored in parts of the Thakurgaon city after Friday noon, said the locals.
Abu Hossain, the DAE deputy director in Thakurgaon, said corn and Boro paddy were damaged along with mango and litchi trees during the storm accompanied by hailstorm.
“Our officers are trying to estimate the extent of damages from the field,” he said.
In Nilphamari, a storm started around 1am and lasted for over 10 minutes, damaging hundreds of houses and Boro paddy.
Golam Mostafa, principal of Nilphamari Model College, said the storm blew away the tin roof of a building and smashed the upper part of the main gate of the college.
Deputy Commissioner Khandakar Yasir Arefin said he was informed about the losses and would take necessary steps after visiting the affected areas.
Farmers fear that they will face huge loss this season since many mango and litchi trees have been damaged in the storms.
