The storm quickly flattened thousands of straw-and-mud huts and uprooted trees and utility poles.

Local media reports that hundreds of thousands of coastal residents were moved into special concrete shelters constructed to avoid a repeat of the mass casualties from previous Bay of Bengal cyclones.

Meteorologists said Sidr was comparable in strength to a 1991 cyclone that killed approximately 138,000 people.

Thursday's storm brought tides as high as 19.7 feet (6 metres) to one of the most low-lying areas of the planet. Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to such tidal surges due to its location at the narrow top of the Bay of Bengal.

Millions of Bangladeshis live in southern areas of the country that are less than 16 feet (5 metres) above sea level.

The storm was expected to deliver a second round of flooding on Friday when rivers become overwhelmed by heavy rainfall dumped over country’s interior, as well as the foothills of the Himalayas.

Official forecasts say that Cyclone Sidr will eventually fizzle out on Saturday over India’s northeastern state of Assam, just south of the mountain kingdom of Bhutan.

To the south, Tropical Storm Lee threatened shipping lanes over the eastern Indian Ocean. It was predicted to intensify to Category 1 cyclone strength over the weekend.

Cyclone Sidr track

Tropical Storm Lee track

Satellite Loop: University of Wisconsin         Digg This