Fani is the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone of 1999 that claimed close to 10,000 lives and left a trail of destruction in vast swathes of Odisha, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre. IMD said it is also the first cyclonic storm of such severity to have formed in April in India’s oceanic neighbourhood in 43 years.
The super cyclone of 1999 had affected at least 1.3 crore people, including 33 lakh children, 50 lakh women and nearly 35 lakh elderly. And over 3,15,886 cattle died.
Cyclone Fani has been named by Bangladesh. It is pronounced “Foni” and translates to “the hood of a snake”. The IMD has predicted that the storm wind could climb to 180-205 kmph.
IMD officials said April to December is the cyclone season but over 65 per cent of all cyclones occur in the last four months of the year. Cyclones are classified on the wind speed around the low pressure area. Wind speed of over 62 kmph is classified as a tropical cyclone and assigned a name.
It becomes a severe cyclonic storm if the speed is between 89 and 118 kmph and a very severe cyclonic storm if the speed is between 119 and 221 kmph. Those with higher speeds are categorised as super cyclonic storms.
“In the past (1891-2017), only 14 severe tropical cyclones formed in April over the Bay of Bengal. Only one storm crossed the Indian mainland,” Mahadhavan Rajeevan, Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences said on twitter.
According to IMD, 26 of the 35 deadliest tropical cyclones in history have been Bay of Bengal storms. Bangladesh has seen the most casualties, accounting for over 40 per cent of the world’s tropical cyclone-associated deaths in the past two centuries (India accounts for a quarter of the deaths). In India, Odisha has seen most number of cyclones (between 1891 and 2002) but Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have had the most casualties in recent times.
A recent report by the Odisha Government put the State’s coastal zone as the “most” vulnerable in the country to reoccurrence of storms and severe storms. In every 15 months, the State faces re-occurrence of such storms. In case of Andhra Pradesh, it is 20 months while for the other Bay of Bengal State - West Bengal - it is 28 months.
In the past (1891-2017), only 14 severe tropical cyclones formed in April over the Bay of Bengal. Only one storm crossed the Indian mainland. Cyclone Fani is the second storm forming in April and crossing the mainland. Last severe cyclone Nargis in 2008 devastated Myanmar.