CYCLONE AMPHAN is the latest and most heartbreaking catastrophe to hit West Bengal, already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. On the afternoon of May 20, with the top windspeed of 185kmph, Amphan made its landfall, first in coastal Odisha before hitting the Sunderbans and Kolkata - the city we grew up in, and where some of us still live.

Caught in the eye of the storm, it brought the city to its knees, uprooting trees, tearing down electric cables, taking the roof off buildings, hurtling tin sheets and tiles through the air, flooding streets and low-lying areas, and killing at least 72 people, mainly crushed by falling trees or electrocuted. It has caused unimaginable loss and destruction to the City of Joy.

Here's a message from a friend after Amphan took its wrath northwards:

"We live in concrete structures and yet all of us shook in fear these last couple of hours. The storm is over..the destruction it has caused is beyond imagination."

Another said:

"All the trees have fallen. Hope seems lost. The scale and power of what happened has shaken us. I'm in despair but I still have a roof over my head. If I was terrified in my brick home, I cannot even imagine people in less sturdy structures, those on the streets and the animals. People have lost everything. The bottom has fallen out of Bengal.

"Looking at all the fallen trees in despair and thinking there is only one thing that will heal us now: community. People everywhere, Bengal needs your help. And people of Bengal, Bengal needs your help. We need to put everything aside and rebuild together."

The initial state government estimate of the damage is ₹1lakh crore.

GiveIndia has received requests for funds to aid emergency relief and rehabilitation of those affected from our partner NGOs - Sabhuj Sangha in the Sunderbans and Rural Health Care Foundation working in the worst affected areas of South and North 24 Paraganas and East Mednipur. They will help provide immediate food, shelter and healthcare through mobile medical camps.

In the midst of the rising cases of Covid-19, all of us concerned citizens need to do everything in our power to help Bengal get back on its feet. Please give as much or as little as you can.

Thank you in advance!