Cyclone Remar, the first tropical storm of the season, slammed into Bangladesh and neighboring eastern India on Sunday, killing at least 13 people and leaving millions without power.
Officials said Hurricane Remar, with winds reaching more than 70 miles per hour, caused severe damage, downed trees and damaged power lines throughout the area.
The storm damaged or destroyed more than 35,000 homes in coastal Bangladesh, affecting about 3.5 million people, officials said. More than 13 million people were without electricity on Monday evening, power ministry officials said. The South Asian country has a population of 170 million.
The storm also caused power outages and damaged homes in West Bengal, India.
The storm came after weeks of scorching weather in the region, with temperatures reaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius. Remar made landfall around 9 p.m. Sunday near the southern Bangladesh port of Mongla and the neighboring Indian Sagar Islands.
About a million people were evacuated from coastal villages in Bangladesh before the storm hit, and officials said most villages were flooded and millions were at risk.
“As Cyclone Lemaar strikes coastal Bangladesh, more than 8.4 million people, including 3.2 million children, face serious health, nutrition, sanitation and safety risks,” Sheldon Yetter, UNICEF representative in Bangladesh, said in a statement.
Heavy rain and strong winds hit Dhaka, the inland capital of Bangladesh. The storms disrupted flights at Shah Amanat International Airport in southeastern Bangladesh and Kolkata Airport in India.
The storm had weakened by Tuesday, but meteorologists in Bangladesh and India warned that heavy rain and strong winds were likely to continue for several days.
Bangladesh has been hit by several severe storms in recent years. Last May, a powerful cyclone, Mocha, struck Bangladesh and Myanmar, killing several people. The storm caused extensive damage to the sprawling Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, destroying more than 3,000 shacks and learning centers built with bamboo panels and plastic tarps.
The Philippines also received its first tropical storm of the season. Typhoon Eyunniel struck the island nation early Saturday morning. The Office of Civil Defense reported seven casualties from the storm on Monday. The storm had wind gusts exceeding 40 mph, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
Saif Hasnat and Suhasini Raj Contributed to reporting.
