The storm on may 18 plugged through low-lying village in the Chitra gong Barisal region,where residents described seeing metres-high walls of water. Authorities evacuated more than 500000 people to shelters before the cyclone hit with winds of up to 88 kilometers per hour. OfficI also said thousands of others along the coast were left stranded in their homes as sea water ripped through dykes and fooded dozens of villages.