South Asian Business news and information

Cyclone Sidr

I live in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and right now, it is night time. It is not raining a lot but the wind is some strong and the weather is cold. I have little idea what is going on the costal areas of Bangladesh. Cyclone Sidr had already reached the costal area of Bangladesh and for the next few hours cyclone sidr is going to attack the southern part of Bangladesh and some parts of India and Myanmar. All the TV channels here are broadcasting the latest updates on Cyclone Sidr.

Strom and cyclones are nothing new for the people of Bangladesh. Every year, a number of cyclones hit the costal areas. So, the people here accustomed to severe storms. However, severe storms like Cyclone Sidr do not come every year. In fact, the last time a strong in the magnitude of Cyclone Sidr took place was in 1991 and more than 100,000 people died.

The Daily Star wrote yesterday:

Originated from a depression over the southeast bay on November 12, it was roosting only 725 km southwest of Chittagong port, 645 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazar and 670 km south of Mongla port, according to the Met office observation made at 12:15am.

As the storm kept picking up speed, the sea was becoming turbulent with the gale force winds blowing even harder. As of last observation, velocity of the hurricane at its core was 190-220 kmph.

That was yesterday. The only good thing is that Cyclone Sidr did not attack last night. If it had done so then it would have caused much more damage that it will do tonight.

BBC reported:

The BBC's Alastair Lawson on board a boat chartered by the BBC to assess the impact of climate change says that the weather is now taking a marked turn for the worse.

Our correspondent - located on the Jamuna river north-west of Dhaka - says that the weather is overcast and the wind has picked up significantly.

Officials say that the level of casualties from cyclones in Bangladesh has been significantly reduced in recent years because of a better early-warning system and the construction of cyclone shelters. 

Wind speed of 220 Kilometer per hour is very strong and Cyclone Sidr can cause a lot of damage. Bangladesh government is trying its best to help people evacuate the danger areas. In the local TV channels, we can see latest updates about Cyclone Sidr. BBC World is also giving adequate coverage to Cyclone Sidr. 

Yesterday, New Age wrote:

Thousands of coastguards, police personnel, army men and volunteers have been kept standby for emergency rescue and relief operations once the storm makes the landfall.

  Bangladesh’s main tourist resort, Cox’s Bazar, wore a deserted look on Wednesday and hotels remained largely empty, officials and witnesses said.

In fact, Bangladesh government has cancelled leaves of all government workers in the costal areas. The government has ordered all its workers in the coastal areas to support the people.

About the latest condition, Reuters reported:

The storm started blowing fiercely at 5 .p.m. (1100 GMT) at Dublarchar and nearby fishing islands and at the Hiron Point near the Sundarbans at 7 p.m. (1300 GMT), local officials said. The mangrove forests in the Sundarbans are home to the endangered Bengal tigers and the park is a World Heritage site.

Both areas have been hit by winds up to 150 kph (90 mph), said a reporter at nearby Mongla, quoting weather officials.

Power and telephone links have been largely cut, but some mobile networks are working sporadically, the reporter said.

Navy officials said many of Dublarchar's nearly 15,000 fishermen were believed to have taken shelter in the Sundarban mangroves, with their boats.

It is exactly 9 PM here in Dhaka (1500 GMT). So, the description you read above from Reuters of Cyclone Sidr has taken place just 2 hours ago. The Sunderbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It is a very thick forest and that is why, people are some lucky that the first attack happened in the forest.

Cyclone Sidr is also heavy rainfall in Indian state of West Bengal. A part of the Sunderbans is in West Bengal.

NDTV reported a few hours ago:

West Bengal went on alert as meteorological department officials said a severe cyclone is likely to hit the coastal areas of the state late Thursday or early Friday morning.

''A very severe cyclone is expected to hit the eastern coastal zones of West Bengal and Bangladesh, affecting Orissa as well. A cyclone alert has already been sounded in South and North 24-Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly districts,'' said an official of the Alipur met office.

Fishermen have been asked not to go out to sea.

It is still not clear how much damage Cyclone Sidr has caused so far. In fact, Cyclone Sidr is still continuing its devastation and after few hours, it will become weak. Most probably, tomorrow morning, we will get more information about Cyclone Sidr’s devastation.

I hope to give you more updates about Cyclone Sidr after a few hours. Do pray for the people of Bangladesh. This is the best thing you can do for us at this moment.

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