Hudhud death toll stands at 41 in India

The death toll from a cyclone ‘Hudhud’ that hit India’s east coast last week has risen to 41, as authorities struggle to restore power, transport and communication links and shelter 150,000 people forced to abandon their homes. ‘Hudhud’ hammered the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, tearing down tens of thousands of mud-and-thatch homes, and flattening rice, banana and sugarcane plantations. Innumerable power poles were uprooted and power station, roads, bridges and other structures damaged. While the death toll jumped to 38 in Andhra Pradesh, officials in Odisha said the number of people who had died there was unchanged at three. The tail end of Hudhud went on to cause sudden and severe snowstorms further north in Nepal, killing at least 30 people on the Annapurna circuit, a Himalayan trek that is popular with foreign adventure tourists, according to Reuters.