A large number of tourists were stranded here and on the highways while returning from this sea resort town in West Bengal's East Midnapore district after a cyclonic storm hit the state on Monday.
District Magistrate Choten D Lama said, "Tourists were stuck at various points from Digha to Kolaghat by uprooted trees and electrical poles. Steps are being taken to clear the roads."
Tourist vehicles were stranded at Pichaboni, Chaulkhola, Digha and Ramnagar. Hundreds of small eateries and stalls selling souvenirs on the coast were washed away by huge waves which lashed the shores at Digha, Mandarmani and Shankarpur since morning, Lama said.
Several coastal villages, comprising 1,500 houses, were inundated after a sea dyke was breached by tidal waves, she said.
There was no power and scarcity of drinking water in the district following the storm. Lama said crops, particularly paddy and betel, grown on 60,000 acre were damaged.