Cyclone Biporjoy is rapidly progressing and is expected to make landfall near the Jakhau coast in Gujarat on June 15. With Biporjoy expected to wreak havoc, let’s take a look at some of the worst cyclones to have struck India.
One such cyclone was Mocha, which formed in the Bay of Bengal but didn’t directly hit Indian land. On the evening of May 14th, 2023, it came closest to the coast, approximately 84 km southwest of Siaha in Mizoram.
In October 2022, Cyclone Sitram affected the eastern and northeastern regions. With maximum wind speeds of 83 km/h and a diameter reaching up to 1222 km, it left its mark.
On average, nearly nine cyclones batter the Indian subcontinent each year. While the entire coastline experiences their impact, research indicates that the East Coast is more vulnerable compared to the West coast. States such as Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Gujarat bear the brunt of these natural disasters.
In May 2022, the Severe Cyclonic Storm Asani made landfall in India, claiming three lives. Tragically, one person was killed by a falling Palmyra tree, another died when a wall collapsed in Amapalapuram, and a third was struck by lightning in Jalandaki, Nellore district.
There was also Cyclone Mandous, which uprooted around 200 trees in Chennai. Anantapur suffered damages worth Rs45 million, and heavy rains claimed the lives of four individuals in Tamil Nadu. Additionally, five fishermen went missing off the coast of Sri Lanka due to the storm.
Recalling the devastating Cyclone Yaas in 2021, over 4,500 villages in West Bengal were severely damaged. Countless homes and agricultural lands were ravaged, and access to basic necessities like clean drinking water and sanitation became scarce. The storm also caused the destruction of at least 143 marine vehicles. Odisha suffered greatly, with 120 village settlements inundated and severely damaged by relentless rains.
In the past, several other deadly cyclones have left a trail of destruction, causing significant loss of life and property. Examples include Jawad, Gulab, and Takutae, all occurring in 2021.
Jawad, although categorized as a weak tropical cyclone, tragically resulted in several fatalities. Two girls in Andhra Pradesh lost their lives when coconut trees were uprooted. Extensive damage was inflicted upon farmlands in Odisha, accompanied by widespread flooding. Kolkata, Howrah, and Hooghly experienced heavy rainfall, and a fishing vessel sank during anchoring. Additionally, two villages in the Khulna District of Bangladesh were submerged by floodwaters.
The impact of Gulab, which struck in September 2021, was far-reaching, causing a reported 20 deaths and ₹20 billion in damages. Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana bore the brunt of its destructive force. In a subsequent event, the Shaheen cyclone resulted in a total of 14 fatalities across Gujrat, Pakistan, Iran, Oman, UAE, and Yemen.
Tauktae, a potent and devastating tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea, made history as the strongest cyclone to hit the Indian state of Gujarat since the 1998 Gujarat cyclone. It also ranked among the most formidable tropical cyclones to impact India’s west coast. The destructive aftermath of Cyclone Tauktae claimed the lives of 169 individuals in India, leaving approximately 80 others injured and around 81 missing.