Tropical Cyclone Sidr

[fragment]

Headed for Bangladesh (http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/ni200706.html#a_topad), Tropical Cyclone Sidr could make landfall at category 4 or 5. The consequences could be horrific - a 1991 cyclone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Bangladesh_cyclone) in Bangladesh killed over 100,000. :(

Chris Mooney, who's excellent book on hurricanes and climate change, Storm World, I just finished reading, is covering it (http://scienceblogs.com/intersection/).

[Watser?]

Wow.

There are Dutch companies working on waterworks in Bangladesh I think. They are like a tropical version of the Netherlands in many ways. They really need dams and movable barriers like we have here.

[viscousmemories]

Damn, I hope they're doing whatever they can to prepare for this. I share the author's disappointment (if not surprise) that the storm hasn't even made CNN's front page.

[fragment]

Jeff Masters (http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=862&tstamp=200711) has it at only category 1 or 2 as best guess for landfall, but in that part of the world, that's still sufficient to cause a major disaster.

[fragment]

Made landfall at category 4 (http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=863&tstamp=200711). Luckily, it hit the coast in one of the least populous parts of the country, but the strom surge could still devastate:

...storm surge levels of 10-20 feet are still likely to affect areas with a population of at least a million, to the east of the Sundarbans forest, and inland from the forest.

[Watser?]

BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7095763.stm) has an article on it too (they had one yesterday as well).

The cyclone made landfall in an area of mangrove forests known as the Sundarbans - a world heritage site and home to rare royal Bengal tigers.

The hope was that the trees there would absorb most of the storm's strength but communities along the whole coast, including several large cities, are feeling its force, reports the BBC's Mark Dummett.

[fragment]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Cyclone rescue effort under way (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7099497.stm)

Over 1,000 confirmed dead, and that will definitely rise. Homes and crops are also devastated.

This is a horrible disaster, but compare it to the scale of the 1970 and 1991 cyclones, with deaths in the hundreds of thousands - a toll I can't really get my head around. While there was some luck in where Sidr hit, it seems a lot of the credit for the reduced loss of life can be given to early warning systems, evacuations, and a programme of shelter construction. That's hope-inspiring - it shows what can be done to tangible effect in even the poorest nations.

There's a massive need for relief, and a bunch of NGOs seem to be swinging into operation to provide water, food and emergency shelter.

[viscousmemories]

Thanks for the update, frag.