DNA Special: How proper planning minimized impact of cyclone Yaas compared to Tauktae

Cyclone Yaas hit the coastal areas of Balasore in Odisha on Wednesday and during this time its tremendous impact was seen in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Bihar and Jharkhand. This is the second storm in India in the last 10 days. Earlier, cyclone Tauktae had caused extensive damage in the states of Western India and 104 people were killed during this storm. But this did not happen during cyclone Yaas.

There was not much difference between these two storms in terms of strength. But despite this, more people lost their lives in the Tauktae storm and there was a lot of economic damage as well. Technology company R.M.S.I estimate that Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Daman Diu lost Rs 15,000 crore due to this storm. 104 people also died, whereas two deaths have been reported so far in Yaas storm.

So now the question is, how is there such a big difference between the impact of these two storms? The answer is preparation and better planning.

Cyclone Tauktae hit the coast of Gujarat on 17 May. But about a week before this storm came, the Indian Meteorological Department had issued a warning about it. The IMD had then feared that a storm is forming in the Arabian Sea, which could cause heavy rains and high winds in the western coastal areas. Then, gradually, IMD increased the level of alerts. On 11 May, then 12 May and again on 13 May, a continuous warning was issued from the department.

But despite these warnings, some barge ships remained in the Arabian Sea. And perhaps this is the reason that most of those who died during cyclone Tauktae were those who did not return from the sea despite warnings.

Whereas, this did not happen during cyclone Yaas. During this storm, the sea areas were systematically evacuated. 1.5 million people were shifted from sea areas to safe places in West Bengal and 5 lakh people in Odisha. Similar steps were taken in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Apart from this, 112 teams of NDRF were deployed in five states. A maximum number of 52 teams were deployed in Odisha and 45 teams in West Bengal. Each NDRF team consists of 47 members of the rescue team. Not only this, but 50 teams were also placed on standby to help in these states.

The same level of deployment of the NDRF took place during the cyclone Tauktae, but due to the negligence of the people and some deficiencies in the management of the State governments, the massive damage could not be avoided.

It must be noted that Tauktae storm was born in the Arabian Sea and Yaas storm originated in the Bay of Bengal. And the important information in this is that if four storms are active in the Bay of Bengal, then compared to this, there is only one storm in the Arabian Sea.

Eastern and south-eastern coastal areas of India are often under the target of storms, whereas such danger is not much in the western states.

Earlier, when there were storms in the eastern and southeast coastal states, there was a lot of havoc there as well. But then these states learned to deal with the storms and started making better systems and plans for this. There was no lack of preparation. And this is the reason that the storms in the Bay of Bengal are now able to do less damage.

Though you may be wondering how this change came? How did these states understand the importance of preparation?

This is due to the December 2004 Tsunami. A 9.1 magnitude earthquake had struck Sumatra, Indonesia and after this earthquake one of the biggest Tsunami in history occurred in the Indian Ocean, which killed a total of 2.5 lakh people. The southeastern states of India were also greatly affected.

The National Disaster Response Force was formed in 2006, a year after the Tsunami struck. Today, the NDRF stands in first line in protecting the country from natural disasters.

Why so many storms come to India?

Today, the Yaas storm came, before that was Tauktae. Amphan storm came before Tauktae storm. And in 2019, there were storms called Pani and Bulbul.

On average, 5 to 6 storms occur in India every year, of which 2 to 3 are in the dangerous category. India alone accounts for 10 percent of the worldwide cyclone storms.

Most of the storms in India come in the months of May and June and then October and November. And the main reason for this is the long coastline of India, which is 7 thousand 516.6 kilometers long.

Interesting things related to the storm-

Scientists believe that severe category storms also have an eye. The central part of any cyclone is called the eye. And according to scientists, the average width of the eye of any cyclonic storm is up to 30 kilometers. Scientists believe that the eye of a storm is formed only when it becomes dangerous after being activated.

There are many types of eyes of the storm.

1. MinusCule Eye - The eye of the storm is very small and has a diameter of 19 kilometers.

2. Medium Size Eye - The eyes are usually 65 to 80 kilometers in diameter. Such storms usually occur in tropical countries. (countries that are around the equator). Like India.

3. Big Eye - Typhoon Carmen was the biggest cyclone in the history of the world. It had an eye diameter of 370 km.

The most important thing is that the intensity of the speed is estimated from the eye of the storm.