Cyclone Amphan

Cyclone Amphan

Recently, The National Crisis Management Committee reviewed the preparedness for the impending cyclone Amphan and directed immediate assistance to West Bengal and Odisha. Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) are the key committees involved in the top-level decision-making related to Disaster Management.

About Cyclone Amphan

Cyclone Amphan was a powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in Eastern India, specifically West Bengal, Odisha and in Bangladesh in May 2020.

It was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the Ganges Delta since Sidr of the 2007 season and the first super cyclonic storm to have formed in the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 Odisha cyclone.

It was also the fourth super cyclone that hit West Bengal and Kolkata since 1582, after 1737, 1833 and 1942, as well as being one of the strongest storm to impact the area.

Causing over US$13 billion of damage, Amphan is also the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, surpassing the record held by Cyclone Nargis of 2008.

Impact on India

Amphan made landfall near Bakkhali in West Bengal on 20 May, buffeting the region with strong winds and heavy rains.

Although the extent of fatalities was less than initially feared, the cyclone's effects were nonetheless widespread and deadly.

West Bengal, the epicenter of the cyclone's landfall, saw the most widespread damage from Amphan.

The storm was considered the strongest to hit the region in over a decade. At least 86 people died in West Bengal; most of the fatalities were due to electrocution or the collapse of homes.

The state government estimated that the storm caused at least ₹1.02 trillion (US$13.5 billion) in damage and directly affected 70 percent of the state's population.

The greatest inundations were expected in the Sundarbans, where flooding could extend 15 km (9.3 mi) inland.

Embankments in the region were overtaken by the surge, leading to inundation of the islands in the Sundarbans.

The cyclone produced sustained winds of 112 km/h (70 mph) and gusts to 190 km/h (120 mph), which were recorded by the Alipore observatory, Kolkata, West Bengal, damaging homes and uprooting trees and electric poles.