Bangladesh cyclone of 1991

▪ tropical cyclone

      (April 22–30, 1991), one of the deadliest tropical cyclones (tropical cyclone) ever recorded. The storm hit near the Chittagong region, one of the most populated areas in Bangladesh. An estimated 140,000 people were killed by the storm, as many as 10 million people lost their homes, and overall property damage was in the billions of dollars.

      The weather system originated in the Bay of Bengal (Bengal, Bay of) and began moving north. By April 24 the storm was designated Tropical Storm 02B, and by April 28 it was a tropical cyclone. One day later the storm hit south of Chittagong, with winds of up to 150 miles (240 km) per hour. The damage was immediate, as a storm surge as high as 15 feet (5 metres) engulfed the flat, coastal plans of southeastern Bangladesh. The surge washed away entire villages and swamped farms, destroying crops and spreading fears of widespread hunger as well as economic woes. Worries were exacerbated by the memory of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta (“Bhola”) cyclone of 1970, which had taken the lives of as many as 500,000 people in what was then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). As a result of the 1970 storm, a few storm shelters had been built. Though in 1991 some were saved by the shelters, many people had doubted warnings of the storm or had been given inadequate warning.

      Since the 1991 storm, the Bangladesh government has built thousands of elevated shelters in coastal areas believed to be most vulnerable to cyclones. In addition the government has started a reforestation program designed to alleviate future flooding.

* * *