From May 2019’s Cyclone Fani to May 2020’s Cyclone Amphan, Bay of Bengal tackled 2 cyclones, with Coronavirus being an added crisis this year. How are authorities tackling Amphan in India and Bangladesh? Has our nation evolved in disaster preparedness along the way? Has the response plan mitigated the destruction expected?
Crux of the Matter
Bay of Bengal or Bay of Sorrow? The largest bay in the world, home to 500 million people, Bay of Bengal is also the site of the majority of the deadliest tropical cyclones in world history i.e 26 of 35 till date, as per findings by Weather Underground.
Experts suggest that one of the main reasons for this bias is favourable conditions like high sea surface temperatures. Additionally worst areas for storm surges tend to be shallow, concave bays where water, pushed by the strong winds of a tropical cyclone, gets concentrated as the storm moves up the bay.
Where have hurricane strength tropical cyclones made landfall over the past 50-years? Cyclone #Amphan joined many such storms in the Bay of Bengal. The busiest basins are the Western Pacific and the North Atlantic. South America has been grazed by storms in the Caribbean pic.twitter.com/LodnL7mZ73 — Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) May 21, 2020
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the tropical cyclone season in this Bay and neighbouring Arabian Sea has two peaks around May and November. The cyclones can form in the western Pacific Ocean and travel in a northwest direction before arriving in the Bay.
The Emergence of Amphan Christened from the Thai word “Um-pun” or sky, Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan was a deadly tropical cyclone that caused widespread havoc in Kolkata, India, and Bangladesh this month. It was the first cyclonic storm to occur at a wind speed crossing 220kmph (137mph) in the Bay of Bengal since 1999 one in Odisha wherein 12.9 million people were affected. Causing over US$13 billion of damage, Amphan has also bagged the title of being the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, surpassing the record held by Cyclone Nargis of 2008.
Precipitable water view of super-cyclone Amphan, 13 May – 22 May 2020 pic.twitter.com/MihBYjv4bP — Mathew Barlow (@MathewABarlow) May 23, 2020
Disaster Preparedness on the Right Path in India The India Meteorological Department has successfully built an accurate service to predict timings of cyclone formation in the Bay of Bengal in the last decade. Additionally there have been reports of clear communication and effective coordination by the disaster relief state authorities, like when 2.6m text messages were sent to locals in clear language before cyclone Fani hit in Orissa and West Bengal last year, keeping everyone alert and up to date. With relief infrastructure built in vulnerable pockets of the country, we have a well laid out plan for disaster management and distribution of relief whenever a crisis strikes and aiming for a minimized casualty.
Cyclone 'Fani': UN agency praises India’s efforts to minimize loss of life and the rather accurate forecasting by the Indian Meteorological Department.https://t.co/bA0QseuxxF — Saurav Jha (@SJha1618) May 4, 2019
Response This Time Both the Bangladesh and Indian governments managed to safely evacuate two million and one million people respectively. Thus Amphan had a lesser casualty of 25 in former and 70 in the latter. In Bangladesh, more than 12,000 cyclone shelters have been set up with COVID-19 prevention equipment, including masks, sanitizers, soap and handwashing facilities. In India, 27,000 shelters have been set up along with provision of food for 75 Lakh people to fight with both coronavirus and the super cyclone simultaneously.
To ensure safety of people from the cyclone ‘Amphan’, district administration & police is continuously working to evacuate people in the vulnerable areas to Flood & Relief Shelters Special police QRTs, SDRF/NDRF teams have been deployed and Special CR is working round the clock pic.twitter.com/Bf5YK9LuDu — West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) May 19, 2020
In India, the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Fund, Kolkata police, fire services and West Bengal state police have been busy in relief and restoration efforts. Meanwhile the state and district-level Interagency Group coordination mechanism have also been activated in West Bengal. PM Narendra Modi announced a $132 million emergency relief package, after travelling to the region to survey the damage.
As #CycloneAmphan makes its way across India and Bangladesh, communities face devastating wind, rain, and flooding. Thankfully, our #nonprofit partner @ActionAid is on the ground supporting survivors, with local female leaders spearheading relief. https://t.co/yA4kMdmPtB — GlobalGiving (@GlobalGiving) May 22, 2020
Curiopedia
An extraterrestrial vortex is a vortex that occurs on planets and natural satellites other than Earth that have sufficient atmospheres. Most observed extraterrestrial vortices have been seen in large cyclones or anticyclones.
Henry Piddington published 40 papers dealing with tropical storms from Calcutta between 1836 and 1855 in The Journal of the Asiatic Society. He also coined the term cyclone, meaning the coil of a snake.
Typhoon Tip was the largest tropical cyclone on record, with a diameter of 2,220 km. At its largest, Tip was nearly half the size of the United States.
Curated Coverage
The Hindu – A double disaster : On a cyclone amid the coronavirus
BBC News – Amphan: Why Bay of Bengal is the world’s hotbed of tropical cyclones
Relief Web – Operational Logistics Contingency Plan : Cyclones
The Conversation – India’s cyclone Fani recovery offers the world lessons in disaster preparedness
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