Ananya Dutta KOLKATA: Twenty-three persons were killed when a severe cyclonic storm accompanied by heavy rain brought by Cyclone Aila lashed the city and some districts of West Bengal on Monday. The death toll could be higher: reports from the districts were only coming in. Many people were injured. The Army was called out to assist in rescue and relief operations in the worst-hit Sunderbans region. Eight persons died in South 24 Parganas district. Also hit were large parts of Purbo Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Bankura districts. More than a lakh of people were rendered homeless and 80,000 people evacuated. Several tourists remained stranded at the Digha sea resort. Cyclone Aila was slowly moving in a north-westerly direction and expected to weaken gradually, said G.C. Debnath, Director, Regional Meteorological Centre. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reviewed the situation at a meeting in the Secretariat. He briefed Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee also spoke to Mr. Mukherjee from here. The storm disrupted life and paralysed transport in Kolkata. Gales swept through at more than 80 km an hour, causing trees to fall at more than a hundred places, killing five persons and injuring others. Several buses, cars and autorickshaws were trapped under trees. Commissioner of Police Gautam Mohan Chakraborti asked the people not to venture outdoors. Schools have been shut. More than 30 roads were blocked by fallen trees. Trams halted after power supply to the overhead wires was cut as a precaution. Flights were suspended from the afternoon until late in the evening. Train services on both Sealdah and Howrah divisions of Eastern Railway were hit as branches of trees lay son the tracks. In the surrounding districts, hundreds of huts were destroyed. Coastal and river embankments breached at several places. Speedboats of the Border Security Force and the State