In the early afternoon of May 20, Cyclone Amphan made landfall in the Bay of Bengal, fueled by the abnormally warm waters of the North Indian Ocean. It was the strongest cyclone recorded in the region this century.

It killed more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands from the villages dotting the coast and the surrounding rural areas. The disaster was made more devastating by the coronavirus pandemic because many in Amphans path were afraid to leave their homes for fear of getting infected.

The first land area to feel the brunt of the storm was the Sundarbans, which covers parts of southern Bangladesh and eastern India, just over 60 miles from the Indian city of Kolkata. The Sundarbans meaning beautiful forest in Bengali is a large river delta, thick with tropical vegetation and a maze of streams racing toward the sea, which turn the land into a jigsaw of islands. Spanning 4,000 square miles, the region constitutes the worlds largest mangrove forest and is home to around 4.5 million people.

The cyclone swept through the forest, razing mud homes to the ground and destroying the power lines that deliver electricity and cellphone signal to the villages, making it harder for those who live there to seek help, report their situations, get medical treatment and reconnect with family members feared lost during the storm. Some areas were still in darkness weeks after the cyclone hit.

But amid the devastation, one community avoided the blackout, thanks to a cluster of seven solar microgrids powering around 700 homes on Indias Satjelia and Kumirmari islands, nestled near the edge of the forest.