Shoumojit Banerjee A sudden, violent tropical storm mauled east Bihar late on Tuesday night, killing 77 people, besides rendering thousands homeless. Government sources said the Nor'wester, which also ripped through the North Dinajpur district in West Bengal killing 39 people there, severely hit Purnia, Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj and Supaul districts of eastern Bihar around 11 p.m. on Tuesday. According to PTI reports, four persons were killed in Dhubri district of Assam. While officials indicated that they expected the death toll to rise due to people being buried under the debris, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said 54 people were reported to have lost their lives in the storm, which lasted about an hour. However, latest reports gathered from the affected districts place the toll at 77, with Purnia recording the highest number of casualties (33), followed by Araria (33), Katihar (7) and two each in Kishanganj and Supaul. Though the exact number of people rendered homeless is yet to be ascertained, authorities said the figure could run into thousands as a majority of the population in these districts resided in houses which had asbestos roof. While unconfirmed reports stated destruction of crops in Purnia district, officials said operations were on to ascertain human casualties. Speaking to The Hindu, Purnia District Magistrate N. Shravan Kumar said the storm rendered more than 500 people homeless in the district. The sheer ferocity of the storm caused a significant portion of the jail wall to collapse in Araria district. Six hundred odd jail inmates were transferred to the Purnia jail. Speaking to journalists after an aerial survey of east Bihar, the Chief Minister expressed his condolences and announced an ex gratia payment of Rs.1.5 lakh for the kith and kin of the deceased. Mr. Kumar said the administrations of the storm-affected districts had been directed to start relief operations immediately on a war-footing.