Bangladesh storms

  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 3,000 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.

Vocabulary:

swept through : travelled quickly across

battering: striking repeatedly

huts: small simple houses

corrugated iron: iron specially curved, or bent to give it extra strength

flimsy: light, easily damaged

to withstand: to resist, to hold out against

knock down: demolish, destroy

debris: scattered fragments of something destroyed

the summer monsoon: a rainy season in southern Asia which accompanies a seasonal wind blowing from the south west

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