India and Bangladesh brace for the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal

[Recursion]

Source: CNN

Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a super cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to a region already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hours), according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Amphan has weakened slightly since, but the storm is still the equivalent of a strong Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, or a super typhoon in the West Pacific, with winds speeds up to 240 kph (150 mph).

The Bay of Bengal, in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, is positioned between India to the west and northwest, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar to the east.

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/19/asia/super-cyclone-amphan-india-banglash-intl-hnk/index.html

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[SunSeeker]

1. Wow. 240 mph winds!

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. 240 *kilometres* per hour, not miles. 150 mph. (nt)

[Recursion]

9. 130 knots. That's terrifying (nt)

[SunSeeker]

11. Oops...

Still, that's horrific.

[csziggy]

12. Hurricane Michael was at 150-155 mph when it hit the Gulf Coast

Arc of Ruin: Hurricane Michael trail of destruction on Florida's Panhandle, Big Bend

What follows is a blow-by-blow account of how an unlikely hurricane laid waste to our communities.

Andrew J. Skerritt, Tallahassee Democrat

Published 8:28 a.m. ET Oct. 14, 2018 | Updated 11:43 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2019


People walk amidst destruction on the main street of Mexico Beach, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)(Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP)

More, pictures, video, and narration: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/hurricane/2018/10/14/hurricane-michael-arc-ruin-trail-destruction-florida-panhandle-big-bend/1614787002/

The infrastructure in Florida is much stronger against hurricanes than in most parts of the world, but the area is still scarred. Re-building has been slow - it took a year to clean up most of the debris and in some places, that still has not happened.

I fear for the people where this current storm will hit.

[IcyPeas]

3. Super cyclone plus a pandemic!

Oy, I just can't imagine.

[Ford_Prefect]

4. Added to the Hyper-Right politics of the region it is nearly the "perfect" storm. Oy Vey indeed.

[2naSalit]

5. And a whole lot of refugees in the region...

not a good thing.

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. 2020: "But wait, there's more!"

I've lost count of how many times I've used the word horrific. This year transcends the power of vocabulary.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. Catastrophic flooding can occur with the delta there.

In 1970, 500,000 were killed from a cyclone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Bhola_cyclone

[Recursion]

10. As of now it seems to be headed for the sundarbans

If there's any good news it's that; it's a giant wetland area that is like a massive sponge. The really horrific flooding has come when a storm goes up the Meghna or Hooghly rivers. But then the downside of the upside is that the sundarbans have a lot of really rare and really precarious wildlife.

[hunter]

8. Amphan: India and Bangladesh evacuate millions ahead of super cyclone

India and Bangladesh are evacuating millions of people from coastal areas ahead of a super cyclone which is approaching from the Bay of Bengal.

Cyclone Amphan is expected to make landfall in an area near the border of the two countries later on Wednesday.

More than 20 relief teams have already been deployed, and several more are on standby, Indian officials say.

The coronavirus outbreak is making it harder for officials in both countries to evacuate people in these regions.

--more--

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52718826

Ideal conditions for the Coronavirus is to spread...