Why Cyclone Remal left North East battered
While the region is no stranger to cyclones bringing heavy rain, the extent of damage from Remal is without precedent, say experts.
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Cyclone Remal made landfall between Sagar Island in West Bengal and Bangladesh’s Khepupara on the night of May 26. While Bengal’s coastal areas did take a knock, the cyclone left a bigger trail of devastation in the states of the North East.
At least 58 persons were killed across Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya as rain triggered by the cyclone led to floods, landslides, and widespread damage to homes.
The region is no stranger to cyclones in the Bay of Bengal bringing heavy rain, the extent of damage from Remal is without precedent, said climate scientists and meteorologists.
“This is the first time that a cyclone has had an impact of this magnitude in the region,” Sanjay O'Neill Shaw, a senior scientist at the regional meteorological centre of the India Meteorolgical Department told Scroll. “Most of the time, whenever a cyclone occurs in Bay of Bengal only some parts of Mizoram and Tripura are affected. But this time, the path of the cyclone changed affecting South Assam, Meghalaya and some parts of Manipur.”
“I have been here for the last 26 years,” said Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, chief executive officer, Assam State Disaster Management Authority. “I never heard of a cyclone entering Assam.”
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