Cyclones in India - Deadliest tropical cyclone in India

Cyclones are devastating, which turns people’s lives upside down in minutes. Cyclones in India are not an exception to nature’s furious behavior. India has come across many deadliest cyclones.

The tropical cyclone in the ‘Bay of Bengal’ and the ‘Arabian Sea’ are named from 2004.

What are the different categories of tropical cyclone storm?

There are different categories of Tropical Cyclone Intensity that develops within the North Indian Ocean.

12 Deadliest Cyclones in India

12. Cyclone Gaja

Cyclone Gaja stormed Tamil Nadu in November 2018, with winds gusting up to 120 km/h it was classed as “Severe cyclonic storm”.

It was named Gaja which means elephant in Sanskrit language, it was named by Srilanka.

In Tamilnadu, about 80,000 were evacuated to 470 relief camps from the districts which were vulnerable to the cyclone. This storm created damages worth $775 million and 52 were confirmed dead.

11. Cyclone Thane

Cyclone Thane was a “Very Severe Cyclonic Storm”.It was the strongest tropical cyclone of 2011 within the North Indian Ocean.

This cyclone storm was named by Myanmar.

It made landfall early on December 30, on the north Tamil Nadu coast between Cuddalore and Puducherry, with winds speed reaching 165 km/h.

Cyclone Thane created damage of worth $235 million and 48 were confirmed dead.

10. Cyclone Ockhi

Cyclone Ockhi was a strong tropical cyclone that hit parts of Sri Lanka and India in 2017. It was classed as “Very severe cyclonic storm”.

The name Ockhi was given by Bangladesh which in Bengali means ‘eye’.
Ockhi headed into the Lakshwadeep islands in southwestern India after devastating the neighboring states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This intense tropical cyclone storm created damage of $920 million and 318 were confirmed dead.

9. Cyclone Titli

Cyclone Titli was a powerful cyclone that swept into eastern India in October 2018. It was classed as “Very severe cyclonic storm”.

Titli was named by Pakistan. This cyclone storm tore into coastal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states with winds of up to 150 km/h (93mph).

It caused severe damage of worth $920 million and 85 were confirmed to be death by Titli.

8. Cyclone Vardah

Vardah was the most intense tropical cyclone of the 2016 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. It hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands and South India. It was classed as a “Very severe cyclonic storm” with winds speed reaching 150 km/h (90 mph).

Name Vardah was given by Pakistan which means red rose.

Vardah made landfall over the eastern coast of India, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The cyclone uprooted about 1 lakh trees in Chennai and its suburbs and caused extensive damage to roads, supplies, and power infrastructure: over 10,000 electric poles were mangled and 800 transformers damaged.
Public transportation was severely affected by Vardah.

The total damage was estimated at $3.37 billion and 47 were confirmed dead.

7. Cyclone HudHud

Cyclone Hudhud hit eastern India and Nepal in October 2014. The cyclone was classed as “Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm”.

Cyclone Hudhud has been named after the national bird of Israel from the list of names suggested by Oman.

Hudhud crossed the coast of Andhra Pradesh at the noon of October 12 over Visakhapatnam with winds exceeding 185 km/h (115 mph).

This cyclone storm-affected badly and created damage worth of $3.4 billion and 124 were dead in which 81 were from India.

6. Cyclone Phailin

Cyclone Phailin made landfall near Gopalpur, in India’s Odisha state, on Oct. 12, 2013. The cyclone was classed as “Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm”.

Knowing this storm is going to be extreme speed Indian government evacuated nearly a million people. This evacuation was said to be a Zero-casualty approach.

The cyclone created damage worth of $ 42 billion and killed 45 people. It was the strongest storm that hit India after the 14 years which brought winds of 260 km/h and torrential rain that toppled trees and power lines along 250 miles of the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coastlines.

Phailin is the Thai word for sapphire, the name suggested by Thailand.

5. Cyclone Fani

Cyclone Fani is the strongest storm in 2019 that hit Odisha after Phailin. With winds crossing up to 250 km/h it was classed as “Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm”.

IMD provided the warning about the intensity of the extreme storm. This warning helped India and Bangladesh move a million people each out of Fani’s projected path.

This strong cyclone storm-damaged worth of $8.5 million and 57 were confirmed dead.

The cyclone Fani means snake, it was named by Bangladesh.

4. 1970 Bhola Cyclone

The 1970 Bhola cyclone is the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded. This cyclone is considered the deadliest natural disaster in modern times. Cyclone was formed over the central Bay of Bengal in November 1970. It made landfall on the coast of East Pakistan. It was classed as “Super cyclonic storm”.

The cyclone brought widespread rain to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal and southern Assam. The rain caused damage to housing and crops in Indian states.

Bhola cyclone killed 300,000 to 500,000 people mostly from East Pakistan.
The disaster had vast political consequences. The Pakistani government’s poor response to the cyclone helped Bengali nationalists take power in the 1970 elections and form a new country Bangladesh.

3. 1999 Odisha Cyclone

The 1999 Odisha cyclone was the strongest recorded tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region. This cyclone was classed as “Super cyclonic storm”.

The storm made landfall in Odisha on 29 October 1999 with winds reaching 260 km/h. The extreme speed killed nearly 10,000 people and the damages were worth $ 4.4 billion. As many as 13 million people were affected by the storm.

The Government of India declared it a national disaster.

2. 1990 Andhra Pradesh Cyclone

The 1990 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was the worst disaster to affect Southern India after 1977 cyclone. It was classed as “Super cyclonic storm“.

This cyclone had a severe impact in India, with over 967 people reported to have been killed and 100,000 animals also died in the cyclone with the total cost of damages to crops estimated at over $600 million (1990 USD).

1. 1977 Andhra Pradesh Cyclone

The 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was an extremely damaging tropical cyclone that hit Andhra Pradesh on November 1977. This tropical cyclone was classed as “Super cyclonic storm”.

The cyclone crossed Andhra Pradesh coast with winds speed crossing 205 km/h. It killed nearly 10,000 people and damaging delta regions.

Later to the impacts of this cyclone there were improvements made by the Indian government to handle the disaster, to provide effective warnings ahead of time, and better meteorological equipment which dramatically reduced the death rate in the next big cyclone in 1990 and thereafter.