NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - The death toll from a devastating tornado in India has risen to 136 and is likely to increase further as rescuers look for the missing - some of whom are believed to be buried under debris, the United Nations and aid agencies said on Friday.
Up to half a million people have been affected after a nor'wester -- a weather pattern that develops in the Bay of Bengal during the summer -- struck impoverished villages in the eastern states of Bihar and West Bengal late on Tuesday.
Packing wind speeds of up to 120 kph (75 mph), the storm flattened over 100,000 homes, destroyed crops such as maize and wheat, disrupted power and communication lines, uprooted hundreds of trees and killed livestock.
"Hundreds of villages in Bihar and West Bengal were very badly affected by the nor'wester (tornado) ... and now the total death toll has reached 136," said a report by the United Nations Disaster Management Team in India.
Aid workers -- who are currently assessing the immediate needs of affected populations -- add ed that villagers are reporting missing relatives who they fear are trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings.
Rescuers have been unable to reach more remote areas due to roads being blocked and small bridges destroyed, they say, adding that total death toll will become evident once all areas are accessed.
WAITING FOR AID
Populations living in the affected areas, bordering Bangladesh, are largely poor -- living on less than a dollar a day, eking out a living as farmers or doing manual work.
Government officials have announced compensation packages for victims and say they have also begun dispatching tarpaulin sheets, dried food and clothes to the survivors.
But three days on, aid workers say hundreds of thousands of people have not received any relief and have been left to live out in the open to scavenge through the ruins of collapsed mud and thatch homes for anything to eat.
"Ninety-five percent of homes have been destroyed in the affected villages in North Dinjapur district in West Bengal," said Joba Bhattacharya, an ActionAid partner in the area. "Women and children are camping in open space. Many have very little clothing on them and need food."
In Bihar, where 91 people have been confirmed dead, the situation is not much better.
"There has been no distribution of aid in Bihar yet," said Sanjay Pandey, convenor of the Inter-Agency Group (made up of several international aid agencies) who is currently assessing the damage in Bihar. "I think it will happen on Monday."
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