Severe Cyclonic Storm Mora was a moderate but deadly
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
that caused widespread devastation and severe flooding in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
and
Northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
in May 2017. The second
named storm
Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the ...
of the 2017
annual cyclone season, Mora developed from an
area of low pressure
In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
over the southeastern
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
on May 28. Mora reached peak strength with
maximum sustained wind
The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common
indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unl ...
s of . The cyclone made
landfall
Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
near
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
on the morning of May 30 and steadily weakened, dissipating early in the morning on May 31. Across its path, Mora dropped a large amount of rain, including 225mm of rainfall in Chittagong and northeast India. The storm is estimated to have caused damages nearing US$300 million.
The name ''Mora'', suggested by
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, means
agate
Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancie ...
.
Meteorological history
In late May 2017, an area of
convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
began to organize in the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
. Favorable conditions, characterized by low
wind shear
Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...
and warm
sea surface temperature
Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies according to the measurement method used, but it is between and below the sea surface. Air mass ...
s, allowed for the development of
rainband
A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands can be stratiform or convective, and are generated by differences in temperature. When noted on weather radar ima ...
s and the beginnings of
circulation on May 27.
That same day, the
India Meteorological Department
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is headquarter ...
(IMD) noted that there was a high likelihood that the
low-pressure area
In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
would organize into a
tropical depression
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
.
The
Joint Typhoon Warning Center
The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...
also issued a
Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert
A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone forming ...
on May 27, citing the persistent thunderstorm activity and the consolidating center of circulation.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center classified the disturbance as a tropical cyclone when the storm continued to intensify. The storm's motion was influenced primarily by a nearby
subtropical ridge
The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as Subtropics, subtropical ridges, or highs. It is a h ...
, forcing the system to take a north-northeasterly track.
Cloud tops over southeastern Bangladesh exceeded 15.3 km (9.5 miles), and over the Bay of Bengal cloud tops reached almost 16 km (9.9 miles).
Shortly before landfall, the storm reached its peak intensity as a severe cyclonic storm with winds of and a minimum central pressure of 978 hPa (mbar). The JTWC noted that the storm reached category 1 hurricane strength with winds of . Animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery depicted improved consolidation with an eye feature on the morning of May 30.
Preparations
Bangladesh
With Mora's relatively rapid intensification, Bangladeshi authorities were hard pressed to carry out evacuations in preparation for the storm. Maritime
weather alert
A weather warning generally refers to an alert issued by a meteorology, meteorological agency to warn citizens of approaching dangerous weather. A weather watch, on the other hand, typically refers to an alert issued to indicate that conditions a ...
s were issued for the Bangladeshi ports of
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
,
Cox's Bazar
Cox's Bazar (; bn, কক্সবাজার, Kôksbajar; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and district headquarters in Southeastern Bangladesh. It is located south of the city of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the na ...
,
Mongla and
Payra, under the anticipation of a storm surge.
All flights out of
Shah Amanat International Airport
Shah Amanat International Airport ( bn, শাহ আমানত আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর ''Shah Amanôt Antôrjatik Bimanbôndôr'') is an international airport serving Bangladesh's southeastern port ...
were cancelled.
Authorities attempted to evacuate 1 million people prior to landfall,
however by May 29, only 300,000 had done so.
Red Crescent
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
volunteers and medical units were on alert as government offices in coastal zones closed. A meteorological office issued a warning for Chittagong and Cox's Bazar as the cyclonic storm Mora headed towards Bangladesh.
East and Northeast India
The India Meteorological Department issued
Tropical cyclone warnings and watches
Tropical cyclone warnings and watches are alerts issued by national weather forecasting bodies to coastal areas threatened by the imminent approach of a tropical cyclone of tropical storm or hurricane intensity. They are notices to the local popul ...
for the Indian states of
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
,
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
,
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
and
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
. The Mizoram government expected that the cyclone could cause landslides and floods, so warnings were issued which advised residents to take precautions and preventive measures. The
Indian Navy's Eastern fleet had was put on high alert to extend aid into Bangladesh.
Myanmar
The
Myanmar Red Cross Society
Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) was founded in 1937 and it was earlier called Burma Red Cross. It has its headquarters in Yangon.
History
In 1920, the Society came into existence as a branch of Indian Red Cross Society. When Burma was politi ...
placed alerts in Chin, Rakhine, Magway, and Sagaing, and activated emergency response teams. Early warning messages were sent to at risk communities, and volunteers were ready to respond and provide aid supplies. Emergency response teams, as well as emergency volunteers from the community also assisted in the evacuation of those affected. The MRCS Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) was initiated on May 29, following the Standard Operating Procedures for MRCS disaster response. On May 30, the Emergency Task Force had its first meeting to plan for the response.
Impact
Bangladesh
A total of 500,000 people managed to move out of coastal areas before the storm made landfall on May 31. Strong winds and
storm surge
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...
battered buildings and destroyed farmlands across Chittagong,
Cox's Bazar
Cox's Bazar (; bn, কক্সবাজার, Kôksbajar; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and district headquarters in Southeastern Bangladesh. It is located south of the city of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the na ...
, and
Rangamati
Rangamati (Bengali: রাঙ্গামাটি;) is the administrative headquarter and town of Rangamati Hill District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The town is located at 22°37'60N 92°12'0E and has an altitude of . The distr ...
. At least 20,000 houses were damaged in refugee camps for
Rohingya Muslims
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
, who were displaced by conflict in neighboring
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. As of May 31, 2017, nine people were reported to be killed across Bangladesh. In addition, 81 Bangladeshi fishermen were reported to be missing after the storm.
For two days, Mora dropped very heavy rainfall in Bangladesh. On May 30, rainfall of 225.2 mm was observed in Chittagong,
213 mm was observed over Sandwip, 208 mm over Sitakunda, and 187 mm over Rangamati. On May 31, rainfall of 196 mm over Netrokona and 139 mm over Hatiya was reported.
Infrastructural loss ranged between
৳
The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, currency sign, sign: , ISO 4217, code: BDT, Short form (linguistics), short form: Tk) is the currency of the Bangladesh, People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at .
Issuance of ban ...
400–450 million (US$4.96–5.58 million).
Sri Lanka
Mora worsened
ongoing floods in Sri Lanka by strengthening the
southwest monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...
. Mora caused flooding and landslides throughout Sri Lanka in the final week of May 2017. 15 districts had been affected, killing 203 people and leaving 96 people missing.
Damage reached US$197 million
Myanmar
Cyclone Mora made landfall in Myanmar in the early morning on May 30. The storm moved inland from the Bay of Bengal, and caused damage in the Arakan and Chin states. The cyclone destroyed 4,702 houses and damaged to 13,595 houses in Arakan State, Chin State and Irrawaddy Division. The government reported that 325 schools, 32 office buildings, and 57 religious buildings were entirely destroyed, while 429 non-residential buildings were heavily damaged. A number of other buildings were severely damaged, including 23 hospitals and clinics, 23 governmental buildings, three bridges, 38 utiliy poles and 22 motorboats.
An 11-year-old boy was killed by a tree branch that fell in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar. In Myanmar, a 10-year-old boy went missing after he was taken away by the rising waters. A tornado also formed in Rahkine which killed 2 and injured 6 people.
Bhutan
On May 31 at around 5 am the remnants of Cyclone Mora brought rainfall to 18 meteorological stations across
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
. The most recorded rainfall was 28.6mm, which was recorded in
Dagana. No damage or deaths were reported in Bhutan.
Effects in Northeast India
Cyclone Mora caused severe flooding in the Indian states of
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
,
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
and
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
in northeast India.
Manipur
The loss of flooding in the state were about
₹1.31 billion (US$20.3 million).
Mizoram
Heavy rains caused by cyclone Mora hit the Indian state of Mizoram, disrupting power and telecommunications. About 20 houses were partially destroyed in the village of Khawbung, while the roof of a district hospital ward was swept away in Siaha district. Officials stated that the rain caused mudslides. An uprooted tree crushed a pastor's home in Serkawm village.
Assam
The Indian region of Assam on was hit by severe rainstorms due to Mora. The rain triggered floods that caused 59,000 families to abandon the flooded districts of Lakhimpur, Karimganj and Darrang. The storms devastated scores of homes.
Effects on Rohingya refugees
As of 2017, Bangladesh's border region is home to approximately 1,100,000
Rohingya
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
refugees from
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. When Cyclone Mora struck the islands of
St. Martin and
Teknaf
Teknaf ( bn, টেকনাফ ''Ṭeknaf'') is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It forms the southernmost point in mainland Bangladesh (St. Martin's Island is the southernmost point). The name of the ...
, 200,000 people evacuated to shelters. 10,000 thatched huts in the Balukhali and Kutupalong camps were destroyed. Many Rohingya refugees did not abandon their makeshift shelters when the storm struck.
One quarter of the buildings in the two camps had been damaged, including community and health centers.
UN Women
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...
, in partnership with the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
, helped to provide emergency shelters and other supports to ensure the safety and protection of thousands of women in the two Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.
The nation of Denmark donated 2.53 billion taka to the refugees.
Bangladesh
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees provided emergency hospital tents to the affected camps and aimed to provide waterproof plastic sheeting to affected families in Bangladesh. The International Organization for Migration provided shelter and emergency healthcare. The organization also supervised repairs to damaged health facilities and sanitation services. The World Food Program provided emergency food rations and large quantities of dry biscuits to affected residents, while the United Nations Children's Fund supplied hygiene kits, water purification tablets, and recreation kits for affected refugee children. The United Nations Population Fund provided high-quality medical care to pregnant women, new mothers and their newborn children in the camps.
The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has contributed US$100,000 for those affected by Mora in Bangladesh. The humanitarian organization said it has contributed US$50,000 to the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. The donation contributed water and sanitation for 50,000 victims of the cyclone.
Myanmar
The European Commission provided €1.5 million (US$1.67 million) in humanitarian aid funding for emergency relief assistance to populations in Myanmar affected by tropical Cyclone Mora.
Singapore Red Cross provided US$50,000 to Myanmar Red Cross for the purchase of tarpaulins, CGI sheets, student and teacher kits for those affected in Myanmar.
Disaster Response
See also
*
Weather of 2017
The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2017.
Summary by weather type
Winter storms and cold waves
Winter weather in 2017 kicked off with a winter storm from January 4-8. This winter storm causes six fatalities. Around a ...
*
Tropical cyclones in 2017
During 2017, tropical cyclones formed within seven different tropical cyclone basins, located within various parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the year, a total of 146 tropical cyclones had formed. 88 tropical cyclones ha ...
*
1991 Bangladesh cyclone
The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone was among the deadliest tropical cyclones on record. Forming out of a large area of convection over the Bay of Bengal on April 24, the tropical cyclone initially developed gradually while meandering over the sout ...
– a powerful cyclone that made landfall in Bangladesh in 1991, killing more than 138,000 people
*
Cyclone Akash
Cyclonic Storm Akash (JTWC designation: ''01B'') was the first named tropical cyclone of the 2007 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Warned by both India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), it formed from an ...
– a tropical cyclone that affected Bangladesh in 2007 and caused widespread impacts.
*
Cyclone Sidr
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Sidr was a tropical cyclone that resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in Bangladesh. The fourth named storm of the 2007 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Sidr formed in the central Bay of Bengal, and q ...
– a strong tropical cyclone that devastated the Ganga delta.
*
Cyclone Roanu – a weak tropical cyclone that caused widespread impacts and severe flooding.
*
Cyclone Komen
Cyclonic Storm Komen was an unusual tropical cyclone that originated near the southern coast of Bangladesh and later struck the same country while drifting over the northern Bay of Bengal. The second named storm of the 2015 season, Komen brought ...
– an unusual tropical cyclone that originated in the Ganga delta and later struck the same region causing massive flooding.
*
Tropical cyclones in Myanmar
This article is about the tropical cyclones that affected Myanmar. Myanmar has witnessed some of the deadliest storms in the Bay of Bengal. The country is hit by a powerful storm every 1 or 2 years.
The list below contains all storms sorted by t ...
References
External links
02B.MORAfrom the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mora
2017 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
Tropical cyclones in Bangladesh
Tropical cyclones in Myanmar
2017 in Bangladesh
Severe cyclonic storms
2017 in Sri Lanka
May 2017 events in Asia
Tropical cyclones in Sri Lanka
2017 in Myanmar
Tropical cyclones in 2017
2017 disasters in Asia