Tormentas en Bangladesh

At least thirty-six people have been killed and nearly five hundred injured in a storm in Bangladesh. Winds of more than sixty miles an hour hit villages in the north of the country.

This report from Roland Buerk:

The storm swept through northern Bangladesh after dark battering villages. Many people in rural areas live in huts made of corrugated iron or mud and straw. The flimsy buildings were unable to withstand winds powerful enough to uproot trees and knock down electricity pylons. Around three thousand homes were destroyed. The police say the number of dead may rise. Rescue teams are yet to reach the worst affected areas because the roads are now blocked by debris. Nearly five hundred people are thought to have been injured.

Powerful storms are not uncommon in Bangladesh and hundreds of people are killed annually but most take place during the summer monsoon and few would have been prepared for a storm so early in the year.

Roland Buerk, BBC, Dhaka

swept through
se extendió rapidamente por

battering
azotando

huts
casas pequeñas y simples

corrugated iron
chapa de zinc

flimsy
endeble, poco sólido

to withstand
resistir

knock down
derribar

the worst affected areas
las áreas más afectadas

the summer monsoon
monzón de verano