Top Asian News 2:23 a.m. GMT

Cyclone floods coastal villages and cuts power in Bangladesh, where 800,000 had evacuated

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A cyclone flooded coastal villages and left hundreds of thousands of people without power Monday after making landfall overnight along India's West Bengal state and Bangladesh, where nearly 800,000 residents had evacuated. Cyclone Remal started lashing Bangladesh’s southern coast late Sunday and was expected to take five to six hours to cross the vast coastal region, Bangladesh's Meteorological Department in Dhaka said early Monday. TV stations reported that dozens of Bangladeshi coastal villages were flooded as many flood protection embankments were either washed away or damaged by the force of the storm surges. Authorities gave no casualty figures yet, but Dhaka-based Somoy TV reported that at least two people died.