One year after the destructive tryst of the super cyclone Amphan with the Indian east coast on May 20, 2020, another strong storm is raging off Odisha and West Bengal.
Cyclone Yaas is likely to cross north-northwest and cross Odisha’s coastline as a very severe cyclone storm around noon on May 26, the India Meteorological Department said. This is almost a week after another extremely severe cyclone, Tauktae, hit the country’s west coast.
Active basin of cyclones
A cyclone storm is an intense circular storm that forms over warm tropical oceans. It is characterized by low air pressure, strong winds and heavy rain.
The Indian peninsula has been exposed to 170 storms since 1970. This is the fourth highest value after the USA (574), the Philippines (330) and China (305) in the same duration.
Between 1891 and 2017 there were an average of five cyclones per year on the Indian coast. Four of them came from the Bay of Bengal and one from the Arabian Sea.
The Bay of Bengal is a more active basin than the Arabian Sea in terms of the frequency and intensity of cyclones.
In the past four years, the bay alone has seen at least 12 cyclone storms.
What is worrying is that the frequency of cyclone formation in the North Indian Ocean has increased in recent years, said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, presented to Parliament on September 23, 2020.
Infographic: India Today DIU
Cyclones in the bay have traditionally been attributed to low air pressure. The most devastating in history, Bhola in 1970 killed more than five lakh in what was formerly East Pakistan and West Bengal.
One of the youngest, Nargis, which hit Myanmar in 2008, was the fifth deadliest cyclone in history.
The severity of the cyclones originating in the bay can be understood by the fact that of the 113 people who lost their lives in the five cyclones that hit India in 2020, nearly 100 were lost in just one cyclone – Amphan.
Along with the destruction of six lakh houses or huts, the cyclone also resulted in the loss of 23,965 cattle and affected 5.82 lakh hectares of arable land.
In addition, more than 8,000 boats were damaged, the Ministry of the Interior Nityanand Rai informed Lok Sabha on February 2, 2021.
Infographic: India Today DIU
Given the predicted severity of Yaas, fishermen are advised not to venture into Bengal Bay and the north coast of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh until May 26.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the state had evacuated nine lakh and sent them to flood relief centers and schools.
In addition, the NDRF has committed a total of 112 teams to deploy in five states as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that are expected to be affected.
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