At Khulna’s Koyra upazila, the cyclone destroyed embankment and flooded a vast swathe of the area, forcing thousands of people to offer Eid prayers standing in knee deep water.

Md Humayun Kabir, Sadar union chairman of Koyra upazila, said the high tidal surge during Wednesday night’s cyclone destroyed the embankment constructed by the Water Development Board (WDB) to protect the area.

“More than 2,500 people attended the Eid congregation standing in water,” he said adding that thousands more attended two other congregations the same way.

Kabir said he led the first congregation and former upazila chairman AKM Tomij Uddin led the second one.

“Locals tried to repair the embankment voluntarily but failed, and the area is being inundated even during normal tides,” he said.

After attending the Eid congregation, Koyra Upazila Chairman SM Shafiqul Islam said the upazila administration arranged hotchpotch for the people.

Thanking the volunteers for participating in repairing the embankment, he sought the Prime Minister’s interference in building a sustainable embankment for survival of the local people.

Cyclone ‘Amphan’ battered the coastal districts of Bangladesh with wind speed of up to 180kph and over 10 feet tidal surges.

Also read: Cyclone Amphan reopens wounds of ‘Aila’ in Khulna region

It inflicted heavy damage to lives, livelihood, agriculture, infrastructures, environment, as well as the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans, in southwestern region of the country.

The unusual high tidal surge flooded over 80 percent area and damaged 40km embankment while it broke at 21 points. Crops in over 5,000 acres were destroyed while 5,000 fish farms were flooded.

‘Amphan’ destroyed 83,560 houses in nine upazilas in Khulna leaving over 450,000 people in distress, the district administration said.

Also read: In photos: Muslims offer Eid prayers at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque