Forecasters feared the worst when the storm gained strength over the northern Bay of Bengal and skirted India’s northeastern coast earlier in the week.

But Bijli became disorganized as it neared Bangladesh, where 300,000 people had been evacuated from low-lying coastal areas in anticipation of a much worse storm.

The Press Trust of India reports about 200 thatched houses were wrecked by Bijli, and several thousand acres of land were left inundated in its wake.

Two of the victims were children, according to officials. One died in a stampede at a cyclone shelter while the other perished when a house collapsed.

Bijli was the first cyclone of the 2009 rainy season, which is just beginning across the Indian subcontinent.

Bangladesh suffered its worst cyclone in several decades in November 2007 when Cyclone Sidr killed nearly 3,500 people along the country’s southwestern coast.

Cyclone Bijli Track

Satellite Loop Data: CIMSS