The body of a local Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) leader has been recovered nine hours after he went missing following the capsizing of a boat in a canal in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali this morning.

Shah Alam (40) was the leader of CPP no. 6 unit of Dhankhali union under Kalapara upazila, our Patuakhali correspondent reports.

A boat carrying four CPP volunteers, including Shah Alam, sank in the Hafez Pedar canal around 8:30am after being hit by the storm, he said.

Three volunteers managed to reach the shore but Alam was missing, said Asaduzzaman.

The incident took place while they were asking people -- using a loudspeaker -- to go to cyclone shelters, said the official.

On information, a team of divers from a local fire service station rushed to the spot and started a rescue operation, he added.

The divers recovered the body around 6:00pm this evening, said Asaduzzaman, assistant director of Kalapara CPP.

Meanwhile, five villages of Rangabali upazila of the district have been inundated as local embankments broke away in pre-Amphan cyclonic tidal surges, said Rangabali Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mashfikur Rahman.

Besides, some areas of Galachipa upazila have flooded due to tidal surge, our Patuakhali correspondent said.