CYCLONE

A "Cyclonic Storm" or a "Cyclone" is an intense vortex or a whirl in the

atmosphere with very strong winds circulating around it in anti-clockwise
direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in clockwise direction in the Southern
Hemisphere.

The word "Cyclone" is derived from the Greek, word "Cyclos" meaning
the coils of a snake. To Henri Peddington, the tropical storms in the Bay of Bengal
and in the Arabian Sea appeared like the coiled serpents of the sea and he named
these storms as "Cyclones".

Cyclones are intense low-pressure areas from the centre of which pressure
increases outwards. The amount of the pressure drop in the centre and the rate at
which it increases outwards gives the intensity of the cyclones and the strength
of winds.

The criteria followed by the Meteorological Department of India to

classify the low pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea as
adopted by the World Meteorological Organization (W.M.O) are:

Types of Disturbances Associated wind speed in the Circulation

1. Low Pressure Area Less than 17 knots (< 31 kmph)

2. Depression 17 to 27 knots (31 to 49 kmph)

3. Deep Depression 28 to 33 knots (50 to 61 kmph)

4. Cyclonic Storm 34 to 47 knots (62 to 88 kmph)

5. Severe Cyclonic Storm 48 to 63 knots (89 to 118 kmph)

Cyclones in the Indian Seas

Cyclones form in certain favourable atmospheric and Oceanic

conditions. There are marked seasonal variations in their places of origin, tracks
and attainment of intensities. These behaviours help in predicting their
movements.
 Cyclones affect both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. They are
rare in Bay of Bengal from January to March. Isolated ones forming in the South
Bay of Bengal move west north westwards and hit Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka
coasts. In April and May, these form in the South and adjoining Central Bay and
move initially northwest, north and then recurve to the northeast striking the
Arakan coasts in April and Andhra-Orissa-West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts in
May. Most of the monsoon (June - September) storms develop in the central and
in the North Bay and move west-north-westwards affecting Andhra-Orissa-West
Bengal coasts. Post monsoon (October-December) storms form mostly in the
south and the central Bay, recurve between 150 and 18O N affecting Tamil Nadu-
Andhra Orissa-West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts.

Cyclones do not form in Arabian sea during the months of January,

February and March and are rare in April, July, August and September. They
generally form in southeast Arabian Sea and adjoining central Arabian Sea in the
months of May, October, November and December and in east central Arabian
Sea in the month of June. Some of the cyclones that originate in the Bay of Bengal
travel across the peninsula, weaken and emerge into Arabian Sea as low pressure
areas. These may again intensify into cyclonic storms. Most of the storms in
Arabian Sea move in west-north-westerly direction towards Arabian Coast in the
month of May and in a northerly direction towards Gujarat Coast in the month of
June. In other months, they generally move northwest north and then recurve
northeast affecting Gujarat-Maharashtra coasts; a few, however, also move west
north westwards towards Arabian coast.

Destruction caused by Cyclones

There are three elements associated with a cyclone, which cause destruction.

1. Cyclones are associated with high-pressure gradients and consequent strong

winds. These, in turn, generate storm surges. A storm surge is an abnormal rise
of sea level near the coast caused by a severe tropical cyclone; as a result, sea
water inundates low lying areas of coastal regions drowning human beings and
live-stock, eroding beaches and embankments, destroying vegetation and
reducing soil fertility.

2. Very strong winds may damage installations, dwellings, communication

systems, trees., etc. resulting in loss of life and property.

3. Heavy and prolonged rains due to cyclones may cause river floods and
submergence of low lying areas by rain causing loss of life and property. Floods
and coastal inundation due to storm surges pollute drinking water sources causing
outbreak of epidemics.

Cyclone Accounts

The accounts of some of the cyclones that struck the coasts of India are given
below
1. The oldest and the worst cyclone on record is that of October 1737 which hit
Calcutta and took a toll of 3,00,000 lives in the deltaic region. It was accompanied
by a 12m high surge. A violent earthquake coinciding with this storm enhanced
the destruction.

2. Midnapore Cyclone of October 1942 was accompanied by gale wind speed of

225kmph

3. Rameswaram Cyclone of 17th to 24th December 1964 wiped out Dhanuskodi

in Rameswaram Island from the map. A passenger train, which left Rameswaram
Road station near about the midnight of 22nd, was washed off by the storm surges
sometimes later, nearly all passengers traveling in the train meeting water graves.
The Pamban Bridge connecting Mandapam and Rameswaram Island was also
washed away by the storm surges, which could be 3-5 meters high.

4. Bangladesh Cyclone of 8-13 November 1970 which crossed Bangladesh coast

in the night of 12th was one of the worst in recent times, with storm surges of 4
to 5 meters height at the time of high tides, and with 25 cm of rain in the areas,
the inundation took toll of about 3,00,000 people.

5. Andhra Cyclone of 14-20 November 1977 that crossed coast near

Nizampatnam in the evening of 19th took a toll of about 10,000 lives. The Ship
Jagatswamini, which went right into the eye of the storm in the evening of 17th
experienced maximum wind speed of 194 kmph. As the storm approached the
coast, gale winds reaching 200 kmph lashed Prakasam Guntur, Krishna, East and
West Godavari districts. Storm surge of 5 meters high inundated Krishna estuary
and the coasts south of Machilipatnam.

Cyclone Operation in India

For cyclone forecast and advance warning, the Government have

strengthened the Meteorological Department, by providing Cyclone Surveillance
Radars at Calcutta, Paradeep, Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Madras and
Karaikal in the east coast and at Cochin, Goa, Bombay and Bhuj in the west coast.
Satellite picture receiving (APT) equipments at Delhi, Bombay, Pune, Madras,
Visakhapatnam, Calcutta and Guwahati are receiving satellite pictures of the
cyclones from the polar-orbiting Satellites of the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. Since April
1, 1982 A.V.H.R.R. (Advance very High Resolution Radiometer) ground
receiving equipment is operative at New Delhi.

Cyclone operations are being done by the Meteorological Department

through the Area Cyclone Warning Centres (ACWC) and the Cyclone Warning
Centres (CWC). ACWC at Calcutta and Madras and the CWC at Bhubaneswar
and Visakhapatnam are responsible for cyclone forecasting in the Bay of Bengal,
ACWC at Madras and Bombay and CWC at Ahmedabad are responsible for the
cyclones in the Arabian Sea - the National Forecast Centre or the weather central
at Pune being the coordinator. Computerised Operational Advisory Forecasts on
cyclone movements are being issued by the Numerical Weather Prediction
(NWP) division of the Department at the H.Q. Office at New Delhi. It may be
mentioned here that with the present knowledge about the cyclones and with the
available aids, the average error in the predictions of the storm centre for a 24-
hour forecast is about 200 km.

Cyclone warnings issued to the Chief Secretaries, the Relief

Commissioners and the District Collectors of the maritime states are the very
basic information for cyclone distress prevention and mitigation. These are
disseminated under "Two Stage Warning Scheme" i.e., in two stages whenever
any coastal belt is expected to experience heavy rains, gales and tidal waves in
association with a cyclonic storm or depression expected to intensify into a
cyclonic storm. The first stage warning known as the "Cyclone Alert" is issued
48 hours in advance of the expected commencement of the adverse weather over
the coastal areas. The second stage warning known as the "Cyclone Warning" is
issued 24 hours in advance. Both cyclone "Alert" and "Warning" messages are
passed to the AIR stations for repeated broadcast. However, they are requested to
broadcast cyclone warnings at hourly or half-hourly intervals, when the cyclone
is nearer to the coast. It will be seen from the table that for dissemination of
cyclone warnings, the Meteorological Department has to depend mostly on the
Telecommunication channels of the Post and Telegraph Department consisting
of landline telegrams, Tele printer, Telex, Telephone, etc
Cyclones that have hit India in recent times

1.Cyclone Ockhi: The third and the strongest storm of the 2017 North Indian
Ocean cyclone season, the origins of Ockhi can be traced back to an area of low
pressure that formed on the Gulf of Thailand on November 21. While traversing
the southern part of the Bay of Bengal, favourable conditions enabled it to
consolidate into a deep depression. As a deep depression, it caused damage to
property and life in Sri Lanka on November 29. Due to moisture and warmer
temperatures between Sri Lanka and Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) in mainland
India, it intensified into a Cyclonic Storm on November 30.

2. Cyclone Nada: Cyclone Nada appeared to threaten the peninsula in late

November 2016. However, as the states geared up, the cyclone seemed to fizzle
out with its landfall in Tamil Nadu. Heavy winds were encountered, however.
Turning from 'very severe' to 'severe', Cyclone Vardah has breached Tamil Nadu
and Andhra Pradesh. With its landfall, the cyclone is currently at category 1
strength and is expected to weaken with sustained winds of 80 to 90 kmph.
3. Cyclone Hudhud: The last time a cyclone of Vardah's scale breached from the
Bay of Bengal was in October 2014 when Cyclone Hudhud originated from the
Andaman Islands and snowballed into a category IV cyclone, being dubbed as
'Extremely Severe.' It proceeded to hit the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh,
Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha. The estimated damages were
approximated to a total of USD 3.4 billion. Death toll due to the cyclone hit 124.
Unlike most Bay of Bengal storms that dissipate quickly over land, Hudhud has
been the only tropical cyclone whose remnant ever reached as far north as the
Himalayas. The cyclone further proceeded up north to trigger an avalanche in
Nepal. Prime Minister Modi announced of October 15th that USD 136 million
was to be awarded as aid for affected areas in Andhra Pradesh.

4. Cyclone Phailin: Originating and named in Vietnam, Cyclone Phailin was a

cyclone of matched magnitude to hit the peninsula in October 2013. The cyclone
hit Andhra Pradesh and resulted in the evacuation of 64,000 people from low-
lying areas. A total of 134,426 people were eventually evacuated. Power and
communication lines went down across the district. With one casualty, the
damage amounted to USD 8.1 million in Andhra Pradesh alone. Other affected
states like Odisha, Jharkhand and neighbouring states recorded losses upto USD
688 million. Odisha recorded the casualties to be 44 people dying due to storm
related accidents.

Disaster Prevention and Preparedness

The Govt. of India suggested in 1969, to the governments of the

maritime states to set up "Cyclone Distress Mitigation Committee" (CDMC) in
the respective states with the objective of preventing loss of life and minimizing
damage to properties. CDMCs are to plan the communication systems in the state
for quick dissemination of Meteorological warnings and prevention measures.

Prevention measures include construction of storm shelters, connecting roads for

evacuation of people, construction of wind breaks, dykes, bunds, flood storage
reservoirs, afforestation along the coastal belts and improvement of drainage
facilities. An advance warning will not be effective unless the public is
enlightened about the destructive features and the actions to be taken by them to
avoid sufferings. CDMCs have also, therefore, program for generating public
awareness through information pamphlets, brochures, audio-visual materials,
cyclone preparedness meetings, talks and discussions over the radio and
television.