DHAKA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The economic loss from the cyclone Sidr which hit the country's southern and southwestern coastal areas on Nov. 15 night, is estimated at 2.31 billion U.S. dollars, the Financial Express reported Monday.

    A preliminary estimate puts the total loss from the cyclone at 2.31 billion U.S. dollars, including rural infrastructure, schools, crops and livestock.

    Principal Staff Officer (PSO) at the Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury told reporters Sunday after a coordination meeting between the government and business community.

    The meeting urged all to operate relief activities in coordination with the local administration for proper distribution of relief materials.

    The cyclone Sidr, one of the fiercest cyclones that hit the country in the last 131 years, affected 30 out of the country's 64 districts, leaving at least 3,199 dead, more than 1,000 missing and some 34,500 injured.

    According to the report by the Food and Disaster Management Ministry, nearly 6.9 million people of 1.6 million families were affected, some 1.2 million houses and crops on land of some 1.79 acres (about 725,000 hectares) were damaged either completely or partially.

    Besides, about 350,000 trees of different species were uprooted by the storm.