Cyclone Fani Kills at Least 38, Leaves Hundreds of Thousands Homeless in India and Bangladesh
06 May 2019
Climate
Damage to the Eastern Indian town of Puri following Cyclone Fani. Arijit Sen / Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Dozens are dead and hundreds of thousands homeless after the strongest cyclone to hit the Indian state of Odisha in 43 years, Reuters reported Sunday.
<p>The powerful cyclone made landfall Friday morning near the Eastern Indian town of Puri with the strength of a category 3 hurricane, according to <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/death-toll-from-cyclone-fani-continues-to-rise-as-india-starts-to-assess-the-damage/70008185" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a>. The storm did major damage to the town, felling trees, blowing off roofs and destroying power lines, Reuters said. At least 38 people have died in Odisha, 25 of them in the Puri district, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fani-death-toll-goes-up-to-38-in-odisha/articleshow/69192407.cms" target="_blank">The Times of India reported Sunday</a>. Another dozen people died when the storm moved on to Bangladesh as a tropical depression Saturday, <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/major-disaster-averted-weakened-fani-hits-bangladesh-doc-1g376s15" target="_blank">AFP reported</a>.</p><p>"Six people died after they were hit by falling trees or collapsed walls, and six have died from lightning," Bangladeshi disaster official Benazir Ahmed told AFP.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This video shared on social media captures the intensity of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CycloneFani?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CycloneFani</a> fury on Odisha coast. There is severe damage across the affected districts. Appeal all to contribute towards the Odisha CMRF to enable the State to take up the restoration works. <a href="https://t.co/lklpmTU0UT">pic.twitter.com/lklpmTU0UT</a></p>— Vineel Krishna (@rvineel_krishna) <a href="https://twitter.com/rvineel_krishna/status/1125079451736297472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>However, the death toll could have been much higher if officials had not evacuated 1.2 million people in Odisha and more than 1.6 million people in Bangladesh ahead of the storm. Authorities had been preparing an evacuation plan since a cyclone in 1999 killed thousands in the region, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/world/asia/india-cyclone.html?emc=edit_MBE_p_20190506&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=88631294ion%3DwhatElse&section=whatElse&te=1" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"In the event of such a major calamity like this — where Odisha was hit by close to a super-cyclone — instead of being a tragedy of humongous proportion, we are in the process of restoring critical infrastructure. That is the transformation that Odisha has had," the state's top government official Naveen Patnaik said in a statement reported by the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/055e29e77ce94e8a821b1c687fd21d1f" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>.</p>
<div id="fae87" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7XT08H1576663626"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1124844894084722688" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Disaster preparedness was the difference between #CycloneFani and a 1999 “super” cyclone that killed 10,000 in Indi… https://t.co/ZQQjzQSFDS</div> — IFRC Asia Pacific (@IFRC Asia Pacific)<a href="https://twitter.com/IFRCAsiaPacific/statuses/1124844894084722688">1557018896.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In India, the evacuation plan included sending out warnings via text messages and public address systems, and transporting people by bus to shelters stocked with food and water. Most everyone was out of harm's way when the cyclone struck Friday, The New York Times reported. In Bangladesh, vulnerable people were similarly moved to shelters, and the plan also seems to have been effective at reducing the death toll.</p><p>"I have a feeling that Allah favored us this time," Bangladeshi disaster management secretary Shah Kamal told The New York Times.</p><p>However, in both countries survivors face a daunting recovery process. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">Flooding</a> inundated entire villages in both Odisha and Bangladesh and destroyed livelihoods, including damaging thousands of acres of crops in the latter country.</p><p>"See, our house is destroyed, our boat is destroyed — what can we do?" 21-year-old Puri fisherman Pikki Gopi told The New York Times. "We don't have any place to work, eat or sleep. We have nothing to do.''</p><p>Survivors were also concerned about food, AccuWeather reported, since the storm destroyed many grocery stores and food supplies. It also destroyed power lines and communications networks in parts of Odisha, including Puri, where officials said it would take at least a week to restore power.</p><p>Patnaik told the <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/odisha-death-toll-in-cyclone-fani-rises-to-16-puri-without-power-water/story-RyLL6QJqnqg9mKwz0ry6zK.html" target="_blank">Hindustan Times</a> that relief efforts were made more difficult by the rarity of the storm.</p><p>"Fani is one of the rarest of rare cyclones – the first to hit in 43 years and one of three to hit in 150 years. Because of the rarity, the prediction and tracking of the cyclone was challenging. In 24 hours, one was not sure of the trajectory it was going to take. Fani after landfall, tore apart the infrastructure, especially power, telecom and water supply, " Patnaik said.</p><p>Fani was so powerful partly because of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/climate-change-turns-cyclone-fani-so-severe/articleshow/69179042.cms" target="_blank">The Times of India reported</a>. The water temperatures in the Bay of Bengal were more than one degree Celsius warmer than the long-term average as the storm was forming, giving the storm more energy. This is the same effect that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-michael-florida-panhandle-2611595307.html" target="_self">super-charged Hurricane Michael</a> in Florida last year.</p>
<div id="10069" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="Z4TT0O1576663626"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1124647430245449733" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Warm sea surface temperatures (between 30-31 degrees Celsius) along with warm, humid air provided fuel for #Fani as… https://t.co/H0Kh4vSqw6</div> — NASA Earth (@NASA Earth)<a href="https://twitter.com/NASAEarth/statuses/1124647430245449733">1556971816.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"Fani is just the latest reminder of the heightened threat that millions of people around the world face from the combination of rising seas and more intense hurricanes and typhoons," Penn State University Atmospheric Science Professor Dr. Michael Mann told The Times of India. "That threat will only rise if we continue to warm the planet by burning <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> and emitting carbon into the atmosphere." </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mozambique Hit by Second Historic Cyclone in Little Over a Month <a href="https://t.co/HpgzugtDPB">https://t.co/HpgzugtDPB</a></p>— Enviro Voter Project (@Enviro_Voter) <a href="https://twitter.com/Enviro_Voter/status/1121763575058583552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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People stand by fallen trees on April 25 in Moroni after tropical storm Kenneth hit Comoros before heading to recently cyclone-ravaged Mozambique. IBRAHIM YOUSSOUF / AFP / Getty Images
Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province on Thursday as the strongest storm to ever hit the country, The Guardian reported. It struck with wind speeds of 140 miles per hour and was expected to raise waves 16 feet higher than usual and bring torrential rain.
<p>The storm comes little over a month after <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cyclone-idai-mozambique-malawi-zimbabwe-2631993550.html" target="_self">Cyclone Idai</a> killed more than 700 people, displaced tens of thousands and caused $1 billion in damage, making it the deadliest and costliest storm in Mozambique's history, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/25/africa/cyclone-kenneth-mozambique-evacuation-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. In the entire region, including Mozambique's neighbors Malawi and Zimbabwe, Idai killed more than 1,000 and forced millions from their homes, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/world/africa/cyclone-kenneth-mozambique.html?emc=edit_MBE_p_20190426&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=88631294ion%3DwhatElse§ion=whatElse&te=1" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>"It's really an anomaly in the history of cyclones in this region. There's never been two storms this strong hit in the same year, let alone within five weeks of each other in Mozambique," meteorologist Eric Holthaus told The Guardian.</p>
<div id="ac0ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="64YKND1576663630"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1121714547918766080" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Satellite animation shows #CycloneKenneth's path after lashing Comoros island, killing 3, before reaching northern… https://t.co/GROQT1n9vN</div> — #Africa_eNCA (@#Africa_eNCA)<a href="https://twitter.com/Africa_eNCA/statuses/1121714547918766080">1556272563.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Kenneth has already killed one person in Mozambique, who was struck by a falling coconut tree in the city of Pemba, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48050859" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. The storm was downgraded to an ex-cyclone Friday as winds decreased, but France's meteorological agency predicts more than 23.6 inches of rain could fall over the next few days. That's nearly double the 10 days of rainfall that caused devastating <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> in the port city of Beira during Cyclone Idai.</p><p>It's the extreme rainfall that can be directly linked to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, Holthaus told The Guardian.</p><p>"We have very strong evidence that everywhere in the world, rainfall is getting more intense. So that means you can get the same amount of rainfall, but it just happens in a shorter period of time, because if the atmosphere is warmer then that will create more intense thunderstorms that rain out faster," Hotlhaus said. "We can directly link Kenneth with climate change for that reason. Not only is this an extremely intense rainfall event, globally, but it's being made worse because of climate change."</p><p>Cabo Delgado, where Kenneth struck, is 600 miles northeast of Beira. The region had never before in modern history been struck by a hurricane-force storm, The New York Times reported.</p><p>"This is another potential tragedy for Mozambique," <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/surviving-floods-and-cyclone-idai-malawi/" target="_blank">Oxfam</a> manager Dorothy Sang told The New York Times. "We're still struggling to scale up and meet the needs of everyone after the last cyclone. This will make it much harder."</p><p>Mozambique has already taken out a $118 million loan from the International Monetary Fund to help pay for recovery from Idai, The Guardian reported.</p><p>Sang said that since the region hit by Kenneth was not used to strong storms, residents would be less prepared for flooding. Further complicating matters is the fact that violence by Islamic militants has forced thousands of people to flee to camps for displaced persons in the region, BBC reported.</p><p>However, the region is less densely populated than the area impacted by Idai and has more elevation. In addition, the government evacuated 30,000 people from the storm's path. However, reports have said that thousands of homes have been flattened by the wind.</p><p>Before hitting Mozambique, Kenneth traveled north of the island of Comoros, killing three people and causing massive damage, The Guardian reported.</p>
<div id="0ef7e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PBTACP1576663630"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1121324442930561024" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Devastating images from #Comoros following #CyloneKenneth.
Homes and roads are damaged and destroyed, telephone p… https://t.co/diARynmsXa</div> — IFRC Africa (@IFRC Africa)<a href="https://twitter.com/IFRCAfrica/statuses/1121324442930561024">1556179555.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Mozambique's northern neighbor, Tanzania, has also responded to the storm by closing schools and businesses in parts of the south, BBC News reported.</p>
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