Cyclone Aila : a case study of west Bengal & Bangladesh

Natural hazards

Natural hazards are naturally occurring physical phenomena caused either by rapid or slow onset events

which can be geophysical ( earthquakes , landslides , tsunamis , volcanic activity ) , hydrological (floods ) ,

meteorological (cyclones , drought ) etc.

A Cyclone is an area of closed circular fluid motion. It has low pressure in the

inside and high pressure in the outside. The Centre of the cyclone its called eye

and it has calmest weather and lowest pressure there.

Cyclone turn counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise

in the southern hemisphere. This is

because it follows the rotational movement of

the earth.

Overview of Aila● Date :- 25 may 2009

● Dissipated :- 26 may 2009

● Highest wind speed :- 120 km/ hr

● Lowest pressure :- 974 (m bar)

● Storm surges height :- 2-3 metre

● Fatalities / missing :- over 325 people

● Injured :- over 800 people

● Affected :- several millions allegedly were affected and nearly 50000 people lost their home.Damaged area :- coastal area of Bangladesh & west bengal

Meteorological history

On 21 may 2009 , the Joint Typhoon warning Centre reported a tropical disturbance had persisted about 950 kilometers to the south

of Kolkata , in india and had developed.

Later the day RSMC New Delhi reported That the deep depression had intensified

into a cyclonic storm and had been named as Aila located about 350 kilometers to

the south west of Sagar island.

On 22 may 2009 , the disturbance further developed with a tropical cyclone formation

alert being issued early the next day by JTWC as the low level circulation Centre had

become strong and more defined.

Aila became a severe cyclonic storm on may 25 and made landfall at its peak

intensity.

• Officials in India evacuated thousands of residents from coastal areas ahead of Cyclone Aila.

• In addition, several warning alerts were issued before the cyclone hit Kolkata; however, no alarm bells were rung.

• In the Bhola District of Bangladesh, an estimated 500,000 people evacuated to higher areas and shelters as Aila neared landfall.

• Tourists were advised to stay in their hotels due to the short amount of time to prepare for the storm.

PREPARATIONS

Damage on structuresSeveral river bursted their

banksFarmland and fishery

equipment's were devastated

Road network were destroyed

Heavily affected areas were without electricity for more

than 24 hours

Communication and water supply system became defective

according to REPORTS FROM BBC NEWS………Cyclone Aila was not a strong storm, but its heavy rains and storm surges were enough to swamp the Mouths of the Ganges River in Bangladesh and India. Some islands in the Bay of Bengal and the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans region were inundated and still cut off from relief and rescue workers as of May 29, 2009. Clean drinking water was an acute problem: tidal surges continued to wash salty water inland over damaged levees, and salt water cannot be decontaminated with regular water purification tablets.

The destruction countIndiaAt least 149 people were killed.

More than 15,000 people in eight villages were

reportedly isolated from relief crews .

More than 100,000 people were left homeless as a

result of Aila.At least 100 river

embankments were breached by storm surge . At least 150,000 people

were left homeless.Throughout the state, an estimated 40,000 homes

were destroyed and 132,000 others were damaged.

At least 350,000 people affected by Aila.

 Approximately 600,000 thatched homes were damaged.

8,800 km (5,500 mi) of roads were destroyed.

 1,000 km (620 mi) of embankments, and 123,000

hectares (300,000 acres) of land were damaged .

 Approximately 9.3 million people were affected by the cyclone, of which 1 million were rendered

homeless.Total damage amounted to

18.85 billion taka (US$269.28 million).

More than 400,000 people were reportedly isolated by severe flooding in coastal regions of

Bangladesh.Port officials stated that more than 500 fishermen had gone missing .An estimated 58,950 animals were

killed by the storm with up to 50,000 deer missing.

Bangladesh

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON SUNDARBANS

• The Sunderbans, a region which houses 265 of the endangered Bengal Tiger, was inundated with 6.1 m (20 ft) of water.

• Dozens of the tigers are feared to have drowned in Aila's storm surge along with deer and crocodiles.

• As of 27 May 2009 (2009 -05-27), one tiger has been found alive; it was found in a waterlogged cowshed following the cyclone's landfall.

• Apart from the human tragedy, the cyclone and subsequent floods has badly affected the mangrove forests of Sunderbans and presumably caused a sizable damage to its animal life by sweeping away a large number of highly endangered Bengal tigers, crocodiles, wild boars and spotted deer.

• Additionally the forest remains under an estimated 2.4 m (7.9 ft) of water. On 27 May, conservationists have begun a search for the tigers throughout the forest.

• The search teams were supplied with fresh drinking water for the tigers as their natural water source was inundated with salt water from Aila's storm surge.

• The loss of faunal diversity is difficult to assess. However the survey team observed many numerous dead frogs, snakes, fishes, ground hogs and other wildlife along with domestic animals floating on water especially in Dacope, Koyra and Paikgacha.

• It can be assumed that because of the saline waterlogged conditions, an anoxic condition is prevailing in the affected area might cause a colossal loss of the soil living organisms.

• Many floral diversity are also affected like Jackfruit, Litchi, mango and mangrove varieties are dying in the area. Officials from the Forest Department, Sundarbans West Division, informed the survey team that, a large number of trees were uprooted; seized logs of Sundari trees swept away by 10-12 feet high tidal surge whipped up by Aila. The Divisional Forest Officer (Sundarbans West Division) also told the survey team that at least 35% of forest camps in the west part of the Sundarbans have been totally damaged and 50% of the local trees are affected (Initial Assessment Report, 2009).

IMPACT ON ECONOMY AND LIVELYHOOD

• Kacha houses incurred comparatively more damage than pucca and semi-pucca houses.

• Transport sector accounted for the majority of additional damage.

• Other losses include the destruction of household goods, agricultural tools(e.g. ploughs), and fishing tools (e.g. boats, nets, etc.).

LOSS OF PERMANENT ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

ACUTE SHORTAGE AND POOR ACCESS SAFE DRINKING WATER increase in salinity in surface water

destruction or absence of sanitation facilities

problems with the distribution of water supplies

IMPACT ON FOOD SECURITY• Due to destruction of agricultural crops local markets were severely damaged and communities faced

difficulties in buying food. Physical access to markets had been disrupted in some of the worst affected areas.

• People were buying less due to income loss caused by fall in agricultural and fishing activities and price

increase of essential food commodities in the local market since Aila hit.

• Income loss significantly affected the labor market and subsequently diminished employment opportunities.

• Due to the loss of livelihoods and decreases in income, poor households typically reduced their food

purchases and compromise their food consumption habit by having fewer meals per day, less quantity food per

meal and less nutrient‐rich food items, which resulted in under‐nutrition and deficiencies in essential

micronutrient. People became more vulnerable to diseases and that broke out post Aila condition. The

situation is even worse for children under two years of age who were extremely vulnerable to the effects of

poor food quality and quantity.

IMPACT ON HEALTH AND EDUCATION

Outbreak of several diseases.

Dependency on untrained indigenous medical practitioners.

Most pregnant women living on the embankments are delivering their babies in their shelters

on the embankments, with the assistance of a Traditional Birth Attendant, if available.

According to the Disaster Management Bureau, cyclone Aila destroyed 445 educational institutions and partially damaged 4,588 across all affected districts, impacting approximately 500,000 children in Bangladesh.

In Khulna, the number of examinee of HSC in August, second terminal examination of Primary Education in August and Secondary Education in September has been decreased 9.3%, 34.3% and 22.7% respectively.

• DISPLACEMENTS AND MIGRATION OF THE INHABITANTS

• Due to destruction of the embankments people living there were forced to migrate to the lower regions away from the embankments. But due to tidal surges they had to come back to the embankment during the time of tide.

• Absence of income facilities, lack of household capital and no place to live dragged most of the affected families to the points closer to the towns.

• Most of them remain unemployed, other started working as rikshaw van puller, housemaid, rice mill labour, agricultural labour, hawker.

IMPACT UPON SOCIAL RELATIONS

People humiliating government officials in demand of adequate relief .

People migrating from the affected areas are causing chaos in the areas where

they have taken refuge. They built temporary shelters often occupying other’s

land. Pressure also increased in job market. Certain increase in population in the

refugee areas are causing health and sanitation problems. All these are heaping

the conflicts between the locals and the migrants.

DEALING WITH THE DESTRUCTIONTHE RELIEF PROCEDURE

• Action taken by Indian state and central government

• Army And National Disaster Response Force were deployed to the state for relief operations. Helicopters were used to provide food to the affected population.

• The Government of India released Indian rupee

10,000,000 (US $209,775) in relief funds to the

affected areas on 26 May.

• Several naval relief teams were deployed to the Sunderban region where an estimated 400,000 people were marooned by flooding.

• Roughly 100 relief camps were established in West Bengal shortly after the storm passed.

Action taken by Government of Bangladesh

• Immediately following the storm, a 33-member team

of the Bangladesh Navy was deployed to the

affected regions.

• The Red Cross also quickly responded, supplying

water purifying tablets and other relief items. About

ten tonnes of rice and 100,000 (US$1,450) in

immediate relief funds were allocated. The

government later allocated Tk. 1.2 million

(US$17,143) and 1,000 tonnes of rice for the

affected areas. These amounts further increased to

Tk. 12.3 million (US$175,714) and 2,500 tonnes of

rice.

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES

Several International agencies came forward to aid the Aila affected victims to provide both short term and long term relief assistance. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) which the world's largest humanitarian network provided their assistance to both India and Bangladesh during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. They provided assistance in post Aila condition by

• rebuilding destroyed homes

• building or repairing water and sanitation facilities

• helping people regain their livelihoods and earn an income.

• The project also reduced people’s vulnerability to future disasters by designing more resilient housing, raising awareness in communities about potential hazards and improving the ability of communities to respond to disasters in the future.

APPROACHES TAKEN FOR STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

1. STRUCTURAL MEASURES • Strengthening coastal embankments and

infrastructure: Bangladesh has over 7500 km of embankments built along its rivers and coastal areas (UN, 2010). Coastal embankments serve to protect coastal communities and other productive resources.

• Providing basic support services Greater efforts should be made to improve safe water infrastructure in at risk areas, including saline water treatment services. Additionally, the provision of (minimum standard) sanitation systems and health services would greatly improve the lives of those in affected areas.

• Non-structural Measures Strengthening the cyclone early warning system: It has been proven that early warning systems and access to cyclone shelters have helped to reduce the number of deaths from cyclones (Mallick et al., 2011).

• Supporting long-term income generation activities: Following the aftermath of cyclone Sidr and Aila, much of the recovery effort focused on short term and periodic relief activities (e.g. providing food, shelter, and drinking water etc.). In anticipation of future cyclones and other extreme events, additional long-term recovery measures are needed to help restore and maintain livelihoods and adaptto the lasting impacts of these disasters.

• Conservation of productive ecosystem services: At present, Bangladesh’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans serve as breeding and nursing grounds for many marine flora and fauna.Therefore, conservation of the Sundarbans and other coastal mangrove ecosystems should be another priority action to support the livelihoods in coastal communities exposed to cyclonic disaster risks.

• Capacity building of local institutions: At the District and Panchayat level, a comprehensive assessment should be undertaken to determine current levels of local governmental and institutional capacity to respond quickly and effectively to extreme events

• lastly• Addressing under-lying causes of vulnerability: Globally, empirical evidence

shows that poverty is a major factor in determining the resilience and vulnerability ofcommunities (Wisner at al., 2004). In many coastal communities with significant exposureto extreme events, poverty is widespread; providing better access to education, sanitation,and health care will help to enhance the resilience and minimise loss and damageassociated with climate change impacts of the poor. To this end, vulnerable people in coastalcommunities should have access to safety nets to provide a buffer when extreme events occur.

REFERENCES

• Farhana S. (2011). Suitability of pond sand filters as safe drinking water solution in storm surge prone areas of bangladesh: a case study of post-aila situation in shyamnagar, satkhira district, khulna.

• Sharmin S.; Naznin R. (2013). Impacts of Cyclone Aila on Educational Institutions: A Study of South-Western Bangladesh. Springer.

• Mitra A.; Haldar P.; Banerjee K. (2010). Changes of selected hydrological parameters in Hooghly estuary in response to a severe tropical cyclone (Aila), Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences, Vol. 40(1). pp 32-36.

• ADRA (April 2011). Impact Evaluation of the Post Aila Recovery Project in Sundarbans, West Bengal, India: Executive Summary.

• Hasan, M., (july, 2010). Climate induced displacement:case study of cyclone Aila in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh.

• Mallick, B; Rahaman K. R.; Vogt J. (2011). Coastal livelihood and physical infrastructure in Bangladesh after cyclone Aila, Springer.