Tropical Cyclone Sidr
There is a powerful tropical cyclone in the northern Indian Ocean that could be catastrophic.
Position: 16.6 N 89.3 E.
Movement: North near 11 mph.
Maximum sustained winds: 150 mph.
Wind Gusts: 185 mph.
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles.
Minimum central pressure: 1008 mb.
About 400 miles South of Calcutta, India.
You have millions of people living in low-lying areas and a massive storm surge possible. As Dr. Jeff Masters notes in his coverage, storms in this area have caused hundred of thousands of deaths in the past.
There have been efforts to provide solid points of refuge and better communications, but this will be a major test.
The storm is expected to weaken before it strikes in about a day, but the storm surge has been building and doesn’t dissipate as rapidly as the storm might. Katrina had a much larger storm surge than is normal for a cat 3 storm because of this and Sidr, like Katrina is headed due North towards the coast.
2 comments
Landfall occurred this evening (Thurs. evening our time), in Bangladesh. From Dr. Masters’s description, it is better to be somewhere else.
I have American friends with family in Calcutta; I need to check with them. Thanks for the notice.
It looked just like Katrina approach to the coast and the Bay of Bengal is infamous for amplifying the surge of storms.
It look like Calcutta was on the “better” side of the storm, but so was New Orleans. It will be a while before the reporting starts as there is a noted lack of infrastructure in Bangladesh.