cyclone « WordPress.com Tag Feed

25 years later, the Karen refugee crisis continues unabated

Particular Kev — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:53:10 +0000

In 1984, the first wave of Myanmarese refugees fleeing from conflict began flooding across the borde

First real post.

coldbear — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:05:52 +0000

CC macro hopefully slightly improved since last I used it to very good effect on Heroic Faction Chumps.

#showtooltip
/use [mod:alt] Entangling Roots; [mod:shift] Cyclone; [target=focus, exists] Cyclone; Cyclone

If you have a focus target, it will try to Cyclone your focus target unless you have Shift pressed, in which case it will try to Cyclone your current target. If you don’t, it will try to Cyclone your current target, unless you have Alt pressed down to Root your current target. Pick a good dangerous focus target that causes people trouble but doesn’t have a boomkin already CC’ing it. Hit once after each 5-cp finisher on your main target if you’re assigned to kill stuff – for an instant good CC. Shift back, 5 more CP, finisher, instant Cyclone again.

Cool Hunter UI idea from wow.com:

Been laughing and digging this remix for a day or two now:

MP3:

http://mrvoletron.wordpress.com/files/2009/11/you-face-jaraxxus-voletron-remix.mp3

RADHANAGAR REVISITED

joydhak — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:57:18 +0000

THE SECOND REPORT ON RADHANAGAR

Quite sometime back I wrote about our workshop at the village named Radhanagar in “Sandeshkhali” block in the Sunderbans area of West Bengal. THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE IN THE FOLLOWING POST: RADHANAGAR FIRST REPORT

Joydhak re-visited the place again this month during the course of a blanket distribution programme to some of the cyclone affected persons in the village. A report:

The village

Radhanagar has faced “Aila”, the destructive cyclone that swept south Bengal five months back. Almost half of the local flora is gone—eaten away by corrosive saline water that cut in through the bunds and bund-like elevated roads of the village in eight places during the disaster. The salty water stayed for a month and when it was finally gone, it took its toll.

The timber merchants are now the happy souls here. Their saw mills are happily slicing away the trees that either fell during the cyclone or still stand, dead, as an after effect of the prolonged saltwater-logging.

The school

The little school compound we visited for our first workshop still stands there, the school is still operational, but its mood has changed. All the merriment is gone now. One of its main teachers is already dead. The cyclone too did not spare the school. The desolate building stands alone there, with the memory of the destructive days of the cyclone written all over its compound. All its flowers are gone now. Here are the two snaps of the past and the present of the building:

The fields

The agricultural fields have got encrusted with a saline top layer. They will not be fit for the usual paddy farming for more than one season now. The area is a single crop area with everybody dependent on land for their livelihood. Barring that one main crop,

some vegetables including water melon and chilly are grown in small quantities. These are also not possible now due to increased salinity of the fields. The only possible alternative is catching of Tiger Pron hatchlings in the saline water of the now shallow local river, Daansa, and making BIDI, a local form of tiny cheroot . Neither of them are financially rewarding.

The river

The river Daansa (remember our earlier report on Radhanagar workshop? The children defined all other rivers of the country by that name..) has lost its depth due to silting during the ‘Ayla’-inducd flood. It lies there like a dead snake, with its shallow bed promising another flood in case of a heavy downpour.

The young folk, our main objective

However, we found enough display of optimism and courage. The place is far from dead. That’s the best part of it. Though riddled with infrastructure problems, neglect and shabby local politics, the young folk there are fighting back.

We interviewed some young girls here who are pursuing academic and professional courses successfully, albeit with some assistance. We shall report about them later in this post.

The very will to live and prosper reigns strong in those innocent faces, but the exposure level is pathetically low. There are some other problems also that are impairing the healthy growth of the younger people here. Some examples:

Excerpt 1

Here is an excerpt verbatim from our field report—

When asked about their application to some State Government courses for Nursing, they replied in affirmative. Where? They remained silent to that question. They did not keep the record of where they have applied, and had simply posted their application to some post office.

While coming back I overheard two local young boys of a nearby place named ‘Nyajat’, answering to a mobile phone call to one of their friend who lives in Barasat,( a place closer to Kolkata, the state capital ) “Oh God, we even didn’t know that we were eligible for the Banking exam!! And the last date is gone.”

The starvation here is not only true in the literal sense for many, for many other slightly better off young people of Radhanagar there is another kind of starvation—that of information and exposure.

Some young people of this village have been able to scale the first wall. Despite all odds they have succeeded in assimilating formal education by the sheer force of will and determination, (and , sometimes, through a little financial assistance from some individuals). But then they are faced with the second wall now—the lack of information and exposure, the endemic disease of rural India. This second wall is tougher to climb. They need assistance.

Excerpt 2

Another problem area was brought out by Economist Sri Swapan Mondal who hails from this area and is actively involved in various activities here. Here’s the gist:

A couple of personal computers were arranged by Mr. Biswas for one school here. An arrangement was made for a teacher to commute there once a week to impart training to the youth in computer application, for free. But the school authorities neither could provide a weather-safe room for the computers, nor did they even care to pay the traveling expenses of the trainer. The machines, kept in a leaky room got soaked in rainwater and soon they became defunct.

This story elicits a problem which is rooted deeper in the psyche of the local residents.

Why did this neglect happen?

Crucifying some individual for playing a traditional villain or spoilsport in this episode would be too simplistic an explanation. The real problem is that of lack of a feeling of need. The above incident would go to show the non-appreciation of a pragmatic new concept by the dogmatic local INSTITUTION. They simply failed to understand the importance of the new concept or to foresee its effect.

Another possible explanation might be their lack of confidence on the local youth about their capability of benefiting from this different concept.

The problem is not new in our Tradition dominated society where much more unquestioned reliance is put on time tested ways and means and any new thing that our forefathers did not know of is treated with suspicion and contempt.

A third possible reason for this neglect is that the machines were given free. Nobody respects a freebie. Doling makes a recipient feel like a beggar. Unless a person is in a dire existential need, he is bound to feel slighted if he is offered alms.

Whatever be the root cause, the net result was that the gift was treated as an unwarranted and unwanted piece of problem for the school authorities and got rid of through calculated neglect.

SUGGESTIONS

At the end of the interactions, the following suggestions emerged.

One of them is for our host Sri P.K. Biswas the enthusiastic septuagenarian youth from Radhanagar and

The other is rather a plea to the readers of the post:à

(A) ESTABLISHING A CAREER INFORMATION CENTRE in the village to be run by the local youngsters who have been lucky enough to get the requisite education.

Once such a center is created locally , and incumbents selected, Joydhak proposed to provide expert faculty support for the first orientation to the volunteers.

Once trained, the volunteers would collect information about VARIOUS CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN SERVICE AND SELF EMPLOYMENT SECTORS. Various periodicals, journals, brochures, scopes of vocational trainings and other curriculum would be sent from Kolkata ,once such info center is created.

Once the center becomes operational, any interested aspirant of the locality would then be provided with information required by him/her by this center. The same model can then be replicated in other local villages.

Sri Swapan Mondal informed that efforts are already afoot to identify a location for the center and once such a location is established expert faculty will be provided whose traveling costs will be recouped by charging a monthly token fee from Rs.25 to Rs.50 from the aspirants (50 cnts to one USD).

The amount to be charged will be purposedly kept meager so that financially weak aspirants can afford it. At the same time, charging of a fee is essential, as, having to pay some amount for a benefit, (however meager may be the amount,) will help to boost the self respect in the educated beneficiary and also a sense of urge to get the best out of a facility. Nobody respects a freebie.

(B) ADOPTING A GIRL STUDENT

Sri P.K Biswas, the septuagenarian youth from Radhanagar and Sri Swapan Mondal, an Economist friend with Joydhak, who is also a son of the soil of the Sunderbans, brought up this issue during the interactions.

Sri Biswas informed that some individuals from different places have already taken up the sponsorship for the education of three girls in Radhanagar. Sri Biswas acts as the co-ordinator for such efforts. He himself is assisting some needy but promising kids from this area. This is resulting into a successful experiment. Two such girls, who did not have any hope for further higher studies, have taken a course in nursing and are now pursuing graduation with this help. The third is still in school. Once this trio are thru the sponsorship is expected to continue with another set of three girls.

COULD YOU HELP????

However, three is not enough. Sri Biswas is also doing whatever possible within his own capacity, yet, more sponsorship is needed. Even a meager five hundred rupees (approx 10 USD) a month can change the life of a girl for ever in this back of the beyond land!

ON BEHALF OF THIS VILLAGE, JOYDHAK URGES FOR SUCH ASSISTANCE FROM THE MORE FORTUNATE INTERNET COMMUNITY WHOSE MEMBERS ARE READING THIS POST.

You can contact the followings:

Sri P.K Biswas at Radhanagar : 09433342558

Sri S.K Mondal at Kolkata at: 09874781962

EMAIL: swapan_ies@yahoo.co.in

Notes:

1. To read first hand description of the village just after the Aila cyclone read this blog post of June created by caritasinternationalis.

2. In case you are interested to make a trip to this village The village is locatable in this satellite map of Sandeshkhali.Magnify the map upto the middle of the slider and you will be able to see the village’s name and location.

Salvador : Appel de fonds de 13 millions de dollars pour les survivants d'un cyclone

nethumanitaires — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:11:55 +0000

Des agences des Nations Unies, le gouvernement salvadorien et des organisations non-gouvernementales

Rock, paper, scissor those thighs

MN Pilgrim — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:48:28 +0000

A few weeks ago I joined a gym at one of the nearby resorts. It’s not really an open gym that

RT @wwwgmanewstv 2-3 cyclones to visit R ...

manilaflood1 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:38:05 +0000

RT @wwwgmanewstv 2-3 cyclones to visit RP in coming weeks – Pagasa – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA Ne… http://bit.ly/P4Kuo

Du surf en Alabama...

surfingthewww — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:42:25 +0000

Ida, généreux cyclone, a envoyé de bonnes vagues sur l’étroite côte de l’Alabama qui donne sur le Golfe du Mexique. Pour mémoire, c’est là :

Les Floridiens, plus habitués à du beachbreak onshore, ont fait le court voyage pour en profiter…

Catastrophic Cyclone PHYAN

John — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:06:43 +0000

We all know how PHYAN passed close to the coast of Maharashtra the day before yesterday and the resulting heavy rain and strong winds was a pain in the arse for a whole day.A real nasty pain.For most of you’ll that was the end of it.Not so lucky for me.

Since that day,somehow half my pay channels have dissapeard.All my favourite ones too.Disappeard.No sign of them and nobody can say what the hell happend.Im not much of a tv watcher but it bothers me when crap like this happens.

I called up the service guy,he says hes never heard of something like this happening but assured me he will check and get back to me.Needless to say no word since.I even checked the dish for any faults or mechanical failures.It looked all right to me.All i can do is wait for those service guys to come around to helping me out of this fix.Im not holding my breath.Lets see…

Storms

Narayan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:41:22 +0000

Update as of 12 Nov 2009.

Storms are known by different names in different parts of the globe. Closer to the Equatorial line they are commonly referred to as Tropical Storms. These are caused by hot humid air building up during the day, and then precipitating into thunderclouds to rain down in a sound, light and water show later in the afternoon. The summers in the United States – especially the Gulf of Mexico region, are famous for its hurricanes. These are low pressure swirls caused by the heat, and since they originate in the sea, they pick up a lot of moisture and as they move into hotter landmass, they drop all the water along the way. Low pressure areas usually create a “vacuum-like” situation which is also commonly called the eye of the storm, which “pull” in winds and everything else that it can pick-up along the way causing turbulent times along the paths approaching the storm eye, while the eye remains calm. Typhoons in Asia are very similar if not the same as hurricanes; while closer home in India, we sometimes use terms like cyclones – which are also exactly the same thing! Note that all these storms emanate in the sea and usually find their way onto the nearest landmass – sometimes islands or archipelagoes along the way bear the brunt. So rough seas, heavy rain, squally winds and general apathy follow. Met offices try their best to warn populace along the storm’s path, but no-one can gauge the fury or even desist it, so preparedness may help, to an extent. Unfortunately for India, our warning systems are woefully inadequate and at times quite erroneous and so we do face disasters when they hit us!

The turbulent weather predicted by some may have dissipated and left much of the Western Coast clear, but D Street got taken in quite gullibly. This morning, when the clouds cleared, the D Boyz thought it would be a fine day, so started out on a positive note, but somewhere in their minds lurked images of rising waves, capsizing boats, rescue missions going awry (all thanks to the amateurish TV News Channels playing jerky videos from their trysts at some beach) – so they lost control of their SENSEX, and went tospy turvy for most of the day. Even the clear blue skies and the good IIP numbers could not convince them to stabilize. They behaved like TV anchors on boats on rough seas and kept losing balance all through – till they were actually rescued by the Closing Bell some 150 points away from the D Street – so the SENSEX slipped down to 16696.

In the buildup to the Bengali New Year, storms usually lash onto Kolkata and other ports on the Hooghly every evening. They are like tropical storms except that this is closer to the Tropic of Cancer than the Equator and I suspect that is where it got its name from – the Nor(th)Wester(n)…… !! Northwest to the Bay of Bengal – and the equator. Any of you ever experienced this storm; please share more insights with me at Norwester.

Cheers….

Just like that....Bakwaas !!!!

anu-mantra — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:08:27 +0000

A lot hapened yesterday in Mumbai.

I finished some work that was pending for long, after my manager gave me a final warning. The news of the cyclone “Fyaan” coming towards Mumbai but missed it. The match between India and Australia didn’t happened due to rain. The worst thing is Indian team got caught partying with their pics released and News channel making breaking news out of it.

Nothing more can be said about my work, so jumping on to the second point, “Fyaan” came in the news and not in mumbai. Good for Mumbaikars, but my office didn’t called the day off as others did and that set me on fire. I was so excited to go and watch the match in the second half and thought that this cyclone couldn’t had a timing better than this. But destiny it seems is always fallible in my case. As the news of early closing of offices came, so came the news of cancellation of the match. Like this was not enough for me, my office didn’t announced the half-day holiday. “Bhagwaan jaane kitna kaam rehta hai. Andhi toofaan mein bhi kaam karna hai inko.”

I reached home in the night at around 10:00 PM and found my flat partners grinning. I instantly got the point that they got the day off. Nothing can be more frustating than seeing my buddies at rest without me and more on before me.

And also India slipped one rank below to number 3 in rating and it surely calls for a celebration and so the Indian players rocked the floor and their pics were unleashed in the morning and were rocking the news channel. Now what the hell is the problem with media. Why shouldn’t they enjoy their life. Is it all about playing and winning only? Why can’t the media for once just air the news as it is without the use of spices. I know Dal tadka is hot favourite but normal “Dal-Bhaat” should be served instead. Arrey baba, inki jeb se paise nikal ke to party ki nahi thi…ki yeh naraaz ho gaye…Saalon ko bulaay nahi honge..tabhi badhak uthe…Why would any sane person call these morons? Bulaate to aur video bhi le lete then they would have started analyzing different postures and grooving moves of players. 2-3 days ka kaam to ho jaata. In gadho ko moot bhari tanki mein dubo ke marna chahiye….(I’m sorry, language is getting degraded word by word and so are my thoughts…) Better to end this blog right here. When my sanity will return, may be I’ll write a gentlemen type blog, with good words that only gentlemen use. Lekin yeh saale kutton ko woh suit nahi karega….yeh kamine is layak….ohk sorry sorry… I’m ending now…

Keep visiting friends…Bye Bye.

Have u ever wondered why ?

surwil — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:41:44 +0000

Have u ever wondered why most of the more devastating Hurricanes are named after the name of a female .

Is it because the females are the more destructive of the species ?

November 11, 2009

noolo — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:51:04 +0000

Mumbai cyclone threat 'recedes'

wnewsfeed6061 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:59:23 +0000

The threat posed by a cyclone off the west coast of the Indian state of Maharashtra is receding, officials say…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: hurricane rating. The blog is also related to: hurricane tracks.

Cyclone Phyan weakens as it crosses west coast

seoforever — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:01:16 +0000

IMD A satellite image shows the eye of the cyclonic storm Phyan as seen over Maharashtra on Wednesday morning.

Cyclone Phyan crossed the west coast just north of this metropolis on Wednesday evening and weakened into a tropical storm, but still dumped a huge amount of rain over the area and rode on winds gusting up to 85 km per hour. No damage was reported in the initial hours.

The storm is now likely to move further north by northeast and weaken into a deep depression overnight, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on its cyclone alert Website.

On Wednesday evening, the weather office predicted more rainfall under the influence of the storm, “with heavy to very heavy fall at a few places over Konkan, central Maharashtra, Marathwada and south Gujarat. There will be rainfall at many places over Madhya Pradesh during the next 24 hours, with isolated heavy falls likely.”

It said gales with winds at a speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph are likely along and off north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coasts till midnight. “Sea condition will be high to very high.”

The authorities warned that the winds were still strong enough to damage huts and break tree branches, causing damage to power and communications lines in coastal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Before Phyan weakened, people scurried home in pelting rain as schools, colleges and offices shut here in the early afternoon.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary Johny Joseph said: “All disaster control agencies like the district administration, police, civic and traffic authorities, fire brigade, Home Guards, Coast Guard, and the Indian Navy have been put on high alert to tackle any eventuality arising out of the weather conditions.”

Authorities have also advised citizens to keep away from popular coastal haunts like Churchgate, Nariman Point, Colaba, Worli, Bandra, Juhu, Versova, Marve, Bhayander and Vasai as huge waves could lash the shore by the evening.

Non-stop rain and heavy cloud cover led to a number of flight delays in and out of Mumbai. According to an official of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, incoming flights were getting delayed by an hour and departures were around 15 minutes behind schedule.

Though there were traffic jams on the main roads in the city, suburban train services were operating normally. Central Railway and Western Railway ran special services to clear the rush of passengers, especially those bound for far-flung suburbs.

Fishermen in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, besides the Lakshadweep Islands, have been advised not to go out to sea. But about 60 fishing boats remained missing at sea, with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard planes and ships searching for them.

Civic authorities kept pumps in readiness at several coastal areas of Mumbai like Worli, Bandra, Juhu, Versova and Malad.

In Gujarat, the State government stood down its cyclone alert in the evening.

Cyclone threatens western India

wnewsfeed6061 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:44:09 +0000

A large cyclone is heading towards the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, weather experts warn…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: hurricane picture. The blog is also related to: hurricane jeanne.

Mumbai cyclone and weather

sId — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:35:11 +0000

The IMD, said that the cyclone with winds upto 75 kms per hour will hit the Indian States of Souther

RT @wwwgmanewstv Cyclone-hit OFWs claim ...

manilaflood1 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:04:23 +0000

RT @wwwgmanewstv Cyclone-hit OFWs claim P10K calamity loans from OWWA – Pinoy Abroad – GMANews.TV – Official Website … http://bit.ly/lrz9l

कानफाट्या

sonalw — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:22:11 +0000

मी office मधे बसून माशा मारतेय.
काम जास्त नाहिये. cyclone warning मुळे कही लोकं घरी गेली आहेत. जावं की न जावं हा मला पडलेला पेच आहे. कारण warning आल्यापासून बाहेर बघतेय, पावूस तर सोडाच, पण झाडाच पान सुद्धा हलत नाहिये. हे असं नेहमी का होतं हे कळत नाही. एखाद्या दहशतवादी संघटनेने हल्ला आयत्या वेळी cancel करणे; होम मिनिस्टर ची डरकाळी एइकुन, हे समजू शकते.

पण हवामान म्हणजे काही अल-कायदा नाही. हल्ली हल्ली या गोष्टी मला जीवनाच्या अति महान तत्वद्यानाकडे घेउन चालल्या आहेत. म्हणजे अणु-रेणू ला पण आत्मा असतो वगैरे. प्रत्येक वेळी मेट जे जाहिर करत ते याला कळत असणार. आणि ह्याचे बेत हा आयत्या वेळी बदलत असणार. (हा म्हणजे हवामान)

खर तर आपलं मेट डिपार्टमेन्ट हल्ला थोपवू शकतच नाही. फार तर फार , आणि अगदी कहर म्हणजे यंत्रणा थोडी कामाला लागते नेहमीपेक्षा जास्त. एव्हढच. म्हणजे कधीतरी प्रोजेक्ट fire वर असल्यावर सगळे मनातून उसना आव आणून वीकएंड ला काम करतात तस!(यालाच मग sincere, hard-working, pro-active वगैरे म्हणुन appraisal मधे गौरवण्यात येत) आणि हे त्यालाही माहितेय. तरी मग हल्ला cancel का करत असेल तो?
कारण मग ह्याच क्रेडिट कमी होतं न. अचानक ‘भोँक’ करून भाम्भेरी उडवण्याचा आनंद official लपाछुपी च्या खेळात नसतो! ‘मला माहित होतं तू असाच करणार ते…’ असं आपण बोललो की त्याचा ego भयंकर दुखावला जात असणार. शेवटी आपण सुद्धा त्याच्यावर इतके बेसावध वार केलेत आतापर्यंत, की त्याचा अधिकार सिद्ध करून दाखवण्याशिवाय त्याच्या कड़े तरी काय पर्याय आहे म्हणा.
anyways , पण एव्हढ मात्र खरं,
MET department always comes into picture when the situation is already met . एकदा कानफाट्या नाव पडल की हे असं असतं.

Cyclone: Maharashtra schools, offices closed

preetha21 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:17:50 +0000

Mumbai is bracing for cyclone Phyan with the level six cyclone now approximately 250 km from the city and expected to make landfall by the evening.

Cyclone in Mumbai

All schools in Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra have been shut; government offices are also closing down.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister has said emergency services have been activated and people in low-lying areas have been put on alert. Extra local trains are being run to take people home quickly. It hasn’t been raining in Mumbai for over an hour.

Read More….

Cyclone Phyan may hit West coast

Abhishek — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:08 +0000

India’s western coast should start preparing itself for two days of rough weather and heavy rain as a cyclonic storm, called Phyan by the Met office is developing over the Arabian Sea off north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts.

At danger level 6, this cyclone is likely to hit Mumbai as well as inland Maharashtra on Wednesday bringing heavy to very heavy rainfall. The Met department has advised people in low-lying areas in Mumbai to vacate and ports to reduce activities and take safety measures. Through this photogallery, NDTV.com takes a look at the changes this cyclone will bring with it. (Image: Met Department)

Widespread rainfall across Goa, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh is also expected. According to the Mumbai Met department, the cyclone is likely to intensify further and move northeastwards, crossing south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Mahuva and Dahanu by Thursday.

For more, refer NDTV.com

It all started with this:

few days before

Karnataka: Cyclone to unleash heavy rain over State

myviews4life — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:44:18 +0000

Bangalore: A cyclone developing over the Arabian Sea is likely to intensify in the next 48 hours bringing heavy rain to coastal Karnataka, according to the Meteorological Department here.

Bangalore and other parts of interior Karnataka will also come within the cyclone’s reach, said B. Putanna, an official with the Met Department. Cloudy skies and rainfall will continue for the next two days at least.

The IMD’s cyclone alert for the south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast sounds a warning for coastal Karnataka, which, it says, will see “heavy to very heavy” rainfall along with squally winds with speeds “reaching 55 to 65 kmph and gusting to 75 kmph”.

The sea will be very rough along the Karnataka coast, it adds.

From THE HINDU

Storm brewing in Arabian Sea, cyclone alert sounded

myviews4life — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:22:17 +0000

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: All fingers are crossed and eyes are on the storm as the weather office on Tuesday sounded a cyclone alert for the coastal region of south Gujarat where it is expected to make a landfall in early hours of Thursday. Currently the depression is lying 400 km off the coast of Goa. ( Watch Video )

Weather scientists are tracking a deep depression formed in the southeast and adjoining central Arabian Sea, which is moving in the northwest direction and is likely to hit south Gujarat. “The system is likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm and is expected to cross south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Mahuva and Dahanu by early hours of November 12,” an alert issued by the India Meteorological Department said.

The system is likely to give heavy rainfall and cause damaging impact if it intensifies into a cyclone. It is currently moving at 45 kmph and is expected to intensify with the wind speed going up to 75 kmph. IMD, Gujarat director Kamaljeet Ray said the state government has been alerted, cyclone warnings issued and fishermen asked to remain off the sea. “We are monitoring the developments closely and a fresh alert will be issued on Wednesday,” Ray said. While cyclones are common in Bay of Bengal in this time of the year, cyclones in the Arabian Sea are rare, officials said.

Due to deep depression, coastal parts of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra are expected to experience squally winds with speed of up to 75 km per hour over the next two days.

Sea condition will be very rough over Lakshadweep area, along and off Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra coasts, it said.

From TIMESOFINDIA

This is just cool.

Emily Gordon is.....Gynomite! — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:32:02 +0000

I know I’m having a real comedy-heavy day today here at Gynomite, but bear with me. This is a super cool little piece of art that’s part of a series that is on the Apiary every Friday. I never really got any of them before, but this one…

… is a reference to Kumail’s Cyclone bit (which he’ll be performing on Letterman this Friday!). How cool is that? Go here to see more of Billy Scafuri and Tim Bierbaum’s work.

Tropical Cyclone Update As of today, no ...

manilaflood1 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:32:46 +0000

Tropical Cyclone Update
As of today, no tropical cyclone existing within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

Cyclone Aila

swapsushias — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:09:00 +0000

Cyclone Aila (RSMC Designation: BOB02, JTWC Designation: 02B, also known as Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila) was the second tropical cyclone to form within the Northern Indian Ocean during 2009. The disturbance that was to become Cyclone Aila formed on 21 May 2009 about 950 kilometres (590 mi) to the south of Kolkata, in India. Over the next couple of days the disturbance slowly developed before a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center early on 23 May 2009 and being designated as a depression by RSMC New Delhi. As of 27 May 2009, 330 people have been killed by Aila and at least 8,208 more are missing, while about 1 million are homeless. Health officials in Bangladesh confirmed a deadly outbreak of diarrhea on 29 May, with more than 7,000 people being infected and four dying. In Bangladesh, an estimated 20 million people were at risk of post-disaster diseases due to Aila. Damage totaled $40.7 million (USD).

Environmental impact

The Sunderbans, a region which houses 265 of the endangered Bengal Tigers, 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 deers and crocodiles. As of 27 May 2009, one tiger has been found alive; it was found in a waterlogged cowshed following the cyclone’s landfall. 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.