Cyclone kills 85 people in eastern India

Hello ATS, with all the talk of the earthquake that struck China today, this seems to be overlooked (although I could be wrong) Here's a snippet from Yahoo :
"CALCUTTA, India – A cyclone packing winds of more than 100 mph (160 kph) demolished ten of thousands of mud huts in northeastern India, killing at least 85 people, officials said Wednesday.

The cyclone struck Tuesday night in northeastern parts of West Bengal and Bihar states, uprooting trees and snapping telephone and electricity lines, West Bengal Civil Defense Minister Srikumar Mukherjee said. Hundreds of people were injured.

Television footage showed uprooted trees lying across shanties and sheets of corrugated metal ripped from the roofs of homes. Small children sat outside their damaged huts as parents tried to salvage their belongings from inside."

I don't know if this is unusual or not for the area, but I hope there are no more casualties from this.

Originally posted by Wondering302
Hello ATS, with all the talk of the earthquake that struck China today, this seems to be overlooked (although I could be wrong) Here's a snippet from Yahoo :
"CALCUTTA, India – A cyclone packing winds of more than 100 mph (160 kph) demolished ten of thousands of mud huts in northeastern India, killing at least 85 people, officials said Wednesday.

The cyclone struck Tuesday night in northeastern parts of West Bengal and Bihar states, uprooting trees and snapping telephone and electricity lines, West Bengal Civil Defense Minister Srikumar Mukherjee said. Hundreds of people were injured.

Television footage showed uprooted trees lying across shanties and sheets of corrugated metal ripped from the roofs of homes. Small children sat outside their damaged huts as parents tried to salvage their belongings from inside."

I don't know if this is unusual or not for the area, but I hope there are no more casualties from this.

it's just mother nature

It's the planet we all inhabit. what can we do?

WORLD LAUNCHES WAR AGAINST MOTHER NATURE

That will be the day eh?

In Meteorological Terms it was actually a Tornado. And they are quite common in this part of India, just like in the states where warm tropical air from the South meets cooler air from the Mountains to the North.

A "Cyclone" is just a Pacific name for a Hurricane, neither of which should be confused for a Tornado.

Aye, in Asia (including India) they tend to refer to any strong wind as a cyclone. Not even sure this was necessarily a tornado. But in any case, it was a quite common weather event. On a par, say, with a torrential thunderstorm covering the ground in hail and causing local flooding on a hot summer's day in Britain.

Sadly, in Asia, the infrastructure means that even relatively common weather events kill.

Apologies, this was indeed a tornado

Killer tornado slams India

I'm reliably informed this is the height of the tornado season in that part of the world. Of course they don't have tornado shelters - or, indeed, any warnings - over there.

[edit on 14-4-2010 by Essan]