Tag: cyclone

‘Disaster’ Cyclone Biparjoy weakens after ramming India’s coast

By Glenda KWEK and Ashraf KHAN in Badin, Pakistan Agence France-Presse MANDVI, India (AFP) — Cyclone Biparjoy slammed into the Indian coast with powerful winds, sowing fear and prompting evacuations, but began weakening in the early hours of Friday as it moved north. Indian forecasters had warned that Biparjoy, whose name means “disaster” in Bengali, was likely to devastate homes and tear down power lines as it barrels through the western state of Gujarat. The […]

Gales lash India and Pakistan coast as cyclone approaches

By Glenda KWEK and Ashraf KHAN in Badin, Pakistan Agence France-Presse MANDVI, India, June 15, 2023 (AFP) — Howling gales and crashing waves pounded the coastline of India and Pakistan on Thursday hours before a powerful cyclone was due to make landfall, with those unable to flee seeking shelter where they could. Nearly 150,000 people have fled the predicted path of Cyclone Biparjoy, whose name means “disaster” in Bengali, with meteorologists warning it could devastate […]

Tens of thousands evacuated as cyclone menaces India and Pakistan

AHMEDABAD, India, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – More than 40,000 people have been evacuated across India and Pakistan as a cyclone approaches their coast, officials said Tuesday, with gales of up to 150 kilometres per hour predicted. The cyclone — named Biparjoy, meaning “disaster” in Bengali — is making its way across the Arabian Sea and is forecast to make landfall as a “very severe cyclonic storm”, government weather monitors warned. In Pakistan’s southeastern Sindh […]

Myanmar port city cut off in Cyclone Mocha aftermath

  By Lapyae Ko with Mohammad Mazed in Shah Porir Dwip Agence France-Presse KYAUKTAW, Myanmar, May 15, 2023 (AFP) — Tens of thousands of people in a major Myanmar port city were cut off from contact on Monday after a cyclone tore through the west of the country and neighbouring Bangladesh. Cyclone Mocha made landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Myanmar’s Sittwe packing winds of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, in […]

Category 5 Cyclone Mocha hits Myanmar, Bangladesh

KYAUKTAW, Myanmar, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Cyclone Mocha crashed through Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, sparing sprawling refugee camps but bringing a storm surge to swathes of western Myanmar where communications were largely cut off. Mocha made landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Myanmar’s Sittwe packing winds of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, in the biggest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in over a decade. By late […]

Category 5 Cyclone Mocha set to crash over Myanmar, Bangladesh

KYAUKTAW, Myanmar, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Cyclone Mocha intensified into a category five hurricane on Sunday, hours ahead of its predicted landfall in Myanmar and Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of people evacuated from the coasts were taking shelter. Mocha was packing winds of up to 140 knots or 259 kilometres per hour, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said, the equivalent to a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It […]

Thousands flee as Cyclone Mocha approaches Myanmar, Bangladesh

SITTWE, Myanmar, May 13, 2023 (AFP) – Thousands fled Myanmar’s west coast and officials in neighbouring Bangladesh raced to evacuate Rohingya refugees on Saturday as the most powerful cyclone in the region for over a decade churned across the Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Mocha was packing winds of up to 220 kilometres per hour (136 miles per hour), according to India’s meteorological office, equivalent to a category four hurricane. It is expected to weaken before […]

Cyclone Mocha heads for Myanmar, Bangladesh

GWA, Myanmar, May 11, 2023 (AFP) – Myanmar and Bangladesh deployed thousands of volunteers and ordered evacuations from low-lying areas on Thursday as the Bay of Bengal’s first cyclone of the year approached. Cyclone Mocha is forecast to make landfall on Sunday along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, according to India’s meteorological office, packing winds of up to 175 kilometres (108 miles) per hour. The office predicted a storm surge of between two and two and a […]

Indonesian fishermen saved after shipwreck off Australia

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A group of Indonesian fishermen are recovering after being shipwrecked on a coral atoll off Australia’s west coast for six days without food or supplies, authorities said Wednesday. Ten men washed up on Bedwell Island, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of the resort town Broome, after their boat was battered by a severe tropical cyclone while fishing in the Indian Ocean. An eleventh fisherman from a second vessel also washed […]

Evacuations ordered as tropical cyclone nears Australia

Severe Weather Update: Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa now category 5. Video current: 3:00pm AWST 13 April 2023. Know your weather. Know your risk. For the latest forecasts and warnings go to our website https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM weather app. pic.twitter.com/6Sbs904Joe — Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) April 13, 2023 Sydney, Australia | AFP | Thursday 4/13/2023 A powerful tropical cyclone hurtled towards Western Australia on Thursday, triggering a “red alert” emergency and evacuation orders as […]

Cyclone Freddy leaves half a million displaced in Malawi: UN

The deadly cyclone that lashed Malawi last week has displaced more than half a million people in the country, the UN said Tuesday as it warned of soaring humanitarian needs. Cyclone Freddy dumped six months’ worth of rainfall on southern Malawi in six days, with floods and mudslides sweeping away homes, roads and bridges in a record-breaking deluge. The cyclone has left almost 500 people dead in the south of the country, while another 150 […]

Cyclone Freddy death toll in Malawi hits 326

by Jack McBRAMS Agence France-Presse BLANTYRE, Malawi (AFP) — The death toll in Malawi from Cyclone Freddy has risen to 326, the country’s president said Thursday, bringing the total number of victims across southern Africa to more than 400 since February. Rescuers were unearthing more bodies as the chances of finding survivors faded after the cyclone followed a highly unusual course by returning to lash southern Africa’s mainland a second time. “As of yesterday, the […]