Cyclone Amphan (2020)
Topic: Air Masses, Fronts, Cyclones and Thunderstorms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Cyclone Amphan was a super cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal. It was the first storm of that strength in the Bay since 1999. It made landfall (its centre crossed the coast) on the West Bengal–Bangladesh coast near the Sundarbans on 20 May 2020. It hit during the COVID-19 lockdown, which made evacuation and shelter harder. It caused heavy damage in Kolkata and the Sundarbans, but the mangrove forests reduced the storm surge (the abnormal rise of sea water pushed onto land by the storm).
Example
In the Sundarbans delta of West Bengal, the mangrove forests took the force of Amphan's surge and protected villages behind them. This has led to efforts to restore the mangroves there.
Don't confuse with
- Odisha super cyclone (1999): the earlier super cyclonic storm in the Bay. It struck near Paradip in Odisha, not the Sundarbans, and killed about 10,000 people.