Around 400 houses were damaged and some 1,200 persons left homeless as a minute-long cyclonic circulation wreaked havoc on Sandeshkhali-1 block of North 24-Parganas district early on Friday afternoon.Around 1pm, Sarberia-Agarhati village suffered the rage of the sudden tornado-like wind that flattened around 400 houses.

Several trees and electric poles were also uprooted. Several roads were blocked and a large area was left without electricity in the aftermath of the momentous minute.

The district administration has begun rescue operations and the homeless people are being brought to safe shelters. Local sources said that a rotating column of wind, quite similar to a tornado-like mass of wind, swept across the area for a minute, bringing down houses, trees and electric poles in one fell swoop.

Sheikh Shahjahan, the Trinamul block president and head of the local gram panchayat, said: “It was such a sudden blow that people became homeless even before they could realise what had happened. We are thankful to the almighty that no one was hurt or killed despite hundreds of houses collapsing and the panic that was unleashed thereafter.”An official of North 24-Parganas district administration in Basirhat said: “Preliminary reports suggest that more than 400 families have been rendered homeless by the sudden calamity. We have begun an assessment of the losses that people suffered so that they can be compensated according to government norms.”

“For now, we have arranged relief items and shelters for people who lost their homes. We are also planning to provide support to the cyclone victims so that they can repair their houses,” the official said.