Cyclone Amphan makes landfall near India, Bangladesh after millions evacuate

France 24 ^ | 05/20/2020 - 08:26 | France 24 Staff

[texas booster]

The Bay of Bengal's fiercest cyclone in decades slammed ashore along the coastlines of India and Bangladesh on Wednesday after more than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a mass evacuation made even more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic.

Cyclone Amphan, the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane, was packing winds of up to 170 kilometres (105 miles) per hour with maximum gusts of 190 kph (118 mph). Authorities warned it could cause extensive damage to flimsy houses and a storm surge could push seawater as far as 25 kilometres inland, flooding cities including Kolkata.

“The next 24 hours are very crucial. This is a long haul," said M. Mohapatra, India's meteorological chief, in comments to AP.

A Bangladesh Red Crescent volunteer drowned Wednesday when a boat capsized while evacuating villagers in the path of Cyclone Amphan, the organisation said.

"There were four of them on the boat when it sank," Nurul Islam Khan, director of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme of the Bangladesh Red Crescent, told AFP.

Authorities have scrambled to evacuate low-lying areas in the path of Amphan, which is only the second "super cyclone" to form in the northeastern Indian Ocean since records began

...

But Bangladesh authorities still fear that Amphan will be the most powerful storm front since Cyclone Sidr devastated the country in 2007, killing about 3,500 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.

The country has been feverishly working to bring 2.2 million people to safety, while West Bengal was relocating 300,000 others.

[texas booster]

Early Wednesday the vast weather system – visible from space – was 125 kilometres (80 miles) offshore with gusts up to 200 kilometres per hour (125 mph), the equivalent of a category three hurricane, the Indian Meteorological Department said.

It was expected to ease slightly but still pack a ferocious punch when it crosses the coasts of West Bengal state and neighbouring Bangladesh on Wednesday "afternoon to evening" with gusts up to 185 kph....

[texas booster]

From floods in Michigan to floods on the other side of the Earth, weather is in the news.

Prayers to those in its’ path, which is expected to hit Kolkata (Calcutta) directly.

[Starcitizen]

Good, its time for the H1B trash to go home and help their country. My give-a-damn is busted. Sorry.

[the_daug]

“While the storms’ frequency and intensity have increased – a phenomenon blamed partly on climate change – deaths have fallen thanks to faster evacuations, better technology and more shelters.” Climate change’s fault!

[texas booster]

I saw that and included it in the except just ... because.

Everything bad gets blamed on climate change. Or Trump.

Not that a large, warm body of water like the Bay of Bengal could ever generate damaging winds and rain on its own.

Climate change has become a religion of the left.

[IronJack]

Get ready for the body-count stories. Expect millions to die, as they always seem to do in these kinds of disasters in those overcrowded poverty factories.

Someone farts in a phone booth in Mumbai and 400 people die. A street vendor's cart gets away from him on a hill and a whole city is wiped out. It's always the same story.

[Cronos]

If you are an IT worker, you would be able to help out in the aftermath of a hurricane in the US?

Besides, this is in Bengal and the bulk of IT folks are from further south.

[Starcitizen]

All the Indian H1B trash, no matter what their skill set (which is non-existent) shouldn’t be in this country. They have as muxh real skills in IT as they have framing houses.