Hundreds of thousands of survivors were stuck Saturday behind roads blocked by fallen trees, iron roofs and thick sludge as rescue workers fought to reach towns along Bangladesh’s coast that were ravaged by a powerful cyclone that killed at least 1,723 people.

Cyclone Sidr, the deadliest storm to hit the country in a decade, destroyed tens of thousands of homes in southwest Bangladesh on Thursday and ruined much-needed crops just before harvest season in this impoverished, low-lying South Asian country. More than a million coastal villagers were forced to evacuate.

The official death toll rose to 1,723, and authorities feared the figure could rise further as the country works to recover.

Many of the evacuees who managed to return home Saturday found their straw and bamboo huts had been flattened by the storm.

Paris

Noted Eiffel Tower eatery reopening

Talk about haute cuisine – 410 feet off the ground.

One of France’s most decorated chefs is unveiling a revamped Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower next month, the Journal du Dimanche newspaper reported.

Alain Ducasse and Sodexho, the French catering services giant, took over management of the Jules Verne and the tower’s other restaurants earlier this year. The iconic Jules Verne restaurant, overlooking Paris from the second level of the 1,024-foot tower, underwent a makeover that Ducasse said he hoped will attract Parisians and tourists alike.

The unusual setting posed several challenges. All the furniture had to be weighed to meet the tower’s weight limits. Because of fire risks, the kitchen cannot use any gas that would produce flames.