On the 20 May 2020, in the middle of a lockdown already difficult mentally and physically, West Bengal was hit hard by super cyclone Amphan. On the Saffir-Simpson 5 scale, it was a category 4 cyclone, with winds blowing up to 185 km/h. Almost one million people were deprived of electricity, water and communication for a few days. Seven hundred people had previously been evacuated, especially in the Sundarbans, saving many lives, thanks to the good anticipation and the learnings from previous cyclone Odisha in 1999. Still, almost one hundred people lost there lives.
In HSP centres, we have been suffering too, especially in EPN and Ashaneer, were 18 trees and 6 trees respectively were uprooted. Some minor damages also were registered. But we were certainly very much protected in our buildings, compared to most of our beneficiaries and the hundreds of thousands living in the slums of Kolkata area. All trees have not been cut yet, and monsoon season already started. We have now extended our Emergency Relief project to include Amphan damage, and started distributing food and tarpaulins.