Odisha’s Tryst With 10 Cyclones In Over 2 Decades; Many Hits & A Few Misses

Bhubaneswar: Cyclones and Odisha go back a long way. The two are somewhat synonymous and the state is now bracing to face the possible cyclonic storm Asani, brewing in the Bay of Bengal. While the season’s first cyclone over BoB is likely to shape by Sunday, its path is still uncertain.

“Further path of the system can be ascertained after it intensifies into a depression,” said Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Scientist, Umasankar Das.

According to the MeT office, the low-pressure area formed over south Andaman Sea and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to move north-westwards, intensify into a depression by Saturday evening and further into a cyclone over the east-central Bay of Bengal in the subsequent 24 hours. The system is likely to continue to move north-westwards and reach west-central and adjoining north-west Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coasts by Tuesday (May 10).

Prior to this, Odisha has encountered 10 cyclones in a span of 9 years and if data from the State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) is to be believed, the frequency of such natural disasters is only on the rise. However, the state dealt with most of these with aplomb having come a long way since October 29, 1999, a day of fatal miscalculations, which saw nearly 10,000 lives being lost, according to official estimates, as tidal surges touched 7 -10 metre after ‘super cyclone’ slammed into Odisha between Ersama and Balikuda in Jagatsinghpur district (southwest of Paradip) around noon with a wind speed of 270 to 300 kmph.

Odisha has since bolstered its cyclone preparedness and with Phailin, the IMD proved to the world that India has the capability to provide accurate cyclone warnings. It repeated the feat in every cyclone that followed and added more alerts, allowing people and the administration to prepare for the fury better.

Before the 1999 Odisha Cyclone that left a trail of destruction behind it, the last cyclone about which there is some detailed information is that of a severe cyclonic storm, which affected thousands of lives and left a trail of destruction in Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur and Bhadrak districts in October 1971.

Here are some of the deadliest cyclonic storms to have hit Odisha since 1999, which marked a turning point in disaster preparedness in the state.

>> Cyclone Phailin (2013): Cyclone Phailin was the second strongest tropical cyclone in India since the 1999 Odisha cyclone. It resulted in heavy rainfall in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.

>> Cyclone Hudhud (2014): Cyclone Hudhud was a strong tropical cyclone that caused damage to Visakhapatnam city in Andhra Pradesh. Odisha too was affected by Hudhud. A total of 61 people lost their lives in Andhra Pradesh.

>> Cyclone Titli (2018): Very severe cyclonic storm Titli was part of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season and made landfall between Odisha’s Gopalpur and Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh. Over three lakh people were evacuated along the sea coast.

>> Cyclone Fani (2019): Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani was the first severe cyclonic storm of 2019, and also the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Odisha since 1999. Fani reached its peak intensity on May 2, 2019, as a high-end Category 4 major hurricane, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 209-251 kmph. A day later, it made landfall at Puri, Odisha, and weakened into a Category 1-equivalent ‘very severe’ cyclonic storm soon after.

>> Cyclone Bulbul (2019): Bulbul led to Odisha suffering agricultural damage, with 490,000 acres worth of crops destroyed state-wide. It tracked northwards in the Bay of Bengal, and it finally made landfall near Sagar Island in West Bengal as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm on November 9, causing extremely heavy rainfall and winds of up to 135 km/h across southern West Bengal. Bulbul directly affected 35 lakh people in West Bengal.

>> Cyclone Amphan (2020): The powerful tropical cyclone led to the destruction of lives and property in Odisha and West Bengal. Cyclone Amphan was the first pre-monsoon super cyclone of this century that emerged from the Bay of Bengal.

>> Cyclone BOB 03 (2020): A depression was formed in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Meteorological Department named it BOB 03. The very next day after the identification, the BOB 03 hit the north Odisha-West Bengal coastline and caused huge destruction of lives and property.

>> Cyclone Yaas (2021): The cyclone battered the northern coastline of Odisha with powerful winds and rains as it made landfall at Bahanaga block in Balasore with a sustained wind speed of 130 to 140 kmph gusting up to 155 kmph on May 26.

>> Cyclone Gulab (2021): Cyclone Gulab crossed the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh coast on September 26. Odisha suffered a little damage as the cyclonic storm crossed its southern districts, causing widespread rain. The remnants of Cyclone Gulab formed into Cyclone Shaheen, in a unique weather phenomenon. The name Shaheen was given by Qatar. Gulab was proposed by Pakistan.

>> Cyclone Jawad (2021): In a huge relief for Odisha, the cyclonic storm weakened into a deep depression by the time it reached Puri on December 5, 2020.

A total of 73 cyclonic storms and 23 severe cyclonic storms made landfall in Odisha between 1891 and 2021. Balasore has been the site of landfall for 28 cyclones followed by Puri and Jagatsinghpur (20 each), Ganjam (13) Kendrapada (11) and Bhadrak (9) districts, Pratap Kumar Mohanty, professor, marine science, Berhampur University, was quoted as saying by Down to Earth.

“Nearly 35 per cent of all the cyclonic storms that have crossed the eastern coast of India have affected Odisha and the associated storm surges have often inundated large tracts of coastal districts,” said Odisha Economic Survey Report, 2018-19.

Before the 1999 Super Cyclone that left a trail of destruction behind it, the last cyclone about which there is some detailed information is that of October 1971 in the district of Balasore which claimed thousands of lives and left lakhs of people homeless.

Cyclones in Odisha before 1971:

1737 – Super Cyclone

1831 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm

1846 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm

1864 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm

1885 – Super Cyclone

1942 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm

1967 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm

1971 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm

1999 – Super cyclone