1991 Bangladesh cyclone
From Freepedia
| Duration | April 22 - 30, 1991 |
| Highest winds | 160 mph (260 km/hr) sustained |
| Damages | $1.5 billion (1991 USD) |
| Fatalities | 138,000+ direct |
| Areas affected | Bangladesh |
| Part of the 1991 Indian hurricane season | |
On 29 April, 1991 an unnamed cyclone struck the Chittagong region of Bangladesh. It had winds around 160 mph, pressure measured at 898 millibars, and a 20 foot storm surge. It made landfall in the district of Chittagong in southeastern Bangladesh. It occurred 21 years after a deadly cyclone caused 300,000 deaths in the same general area.
Contents |
Storm History
An area of persistent cloudiness, in part due to the monsoon trough, developed into a tropical depression on April 22 in the Bay of Bengal. The wind speed and overall size increased, with the depression becoming Tropical Storm 2B on the 24th. The entire wind field at the time encompassed nearly the entire Bay.
The tropical storm continued slowly northwestward, slowly strengthening to a cyclone (a hurricane or typhoon in other basins) on the 27th. The cyclone moved between a high pressure system to its northwest and east, and as mid-level westerlies met up with the storm, the cyclone moved northeastward. The westerlies enhanced upper level outflow, and in combination with warm water temperatures the cyclone steadily strengthened to a major hurricane on the 28th.
On the 28th and 29th, as the system sped up its speed to the north-northeast, the cyclone rapidly intensified to a 160 mph Cyclone, the equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane. Late on the 29th, Cyclone 2B made landfall a short distance south of Chittagong as a slightly weaker 155 mph Category 4 Cyclone. The storm rapidly weakened over land, and dissipated on the 30th over southeast Asia.
Effect
Fatalities
At least 138,000 people were killed by the storm, with the majority of deaths in the Chittagong area. Most deaths were from drowning, with the highest mortality among children and the elderly. Although cyclone shelters had been built after the 1970 Bhola cyclone, with just a few hours of warning few people knew where to go for shelter. Others who knew about the storm refused to evacuate because they did not believe the storm would be as bad as forecasted. Yet even so it is estimated over 2 million people did evacuate from the most dangerous areas, possibily mitigating the disaster substantially.
Property damage
The storm caused an estimated 1.5 billion dollars in damage. The high velocity wind and the storm surge devastated the coastline. Although a concrete levee was in place near the mouth of the Karnaphuli River in Patenga, it was washed away by the storm surge. The cyclone uprooted a 100-ton crane and smashed it on the Karnaphuli River Bridge, effectively breaking it into two sections. A large number of boats and smaller ships ran aground. Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force, both of which had bases in Chittagong, were also heavily hit. Most of the fighter planes belonging to the air force were damaged. Approximately 1 million homes were destroyed, leaving about 10 million people (a substantial portion of Bangladesh's population) homeless.
See also
External links
- NOAA's Top Global Events of the 20th Century
- Data on Bangladesh disasters from NIRAPAD disaster response organisation.
- Indian Cyclone Fact Sheet
- Risk factors for mortality in the Bangladesh cyclone of 1991
- JTWC report
Categories: Hurricane articles needing a picture | Northern Indian Ocean tropical cyclones | 1991 Northern Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season | Category 5 hurricanes | 1991 | History of Bangladesh
