Case Study: Cyclone Amphan, Bangladesh

• The majority of Bangladesh is less than 10 m above sea level, as it is very low lying, it is more vulnerable to flooding. It also has a very high population density, with around one third of the population living below the poverty line.
• Cyclone Amphan hit Bangladesh hit in May 2020. It was made severe by the intensity of the rain, wind strength and the low pressure causing a storm surge to form.
• During the cyclone, the estuary region of Bangladesh received 220 mm of rainfall in a few hours, which is 40% of London's annual rainfall.
• The low air pressure caused the sea level to rise in the Bay of Bengal, causing a storm surge.
• Strong winds led to 100,000 people being made homeless, 90% of those displaced people were from low income groups. Mass amounts of infrastructure and habitats were destroyed.
• Intense rainfall led to spread of disease like typhoid.
• Landslides caused damage to habitats.
• Storm surges and coastal flooding caused the spread of disease, submerged and destroyed several villages and several endangered Royal Bengal Tigers were killed.
• The cyclone killed 20 people and more than 1 million people were affected.
• To track future cyclones, satellite technology was implemented in 2018. There are 3 radar stations that transmit live weather updates, enabling quick and accurate cyclone tracking. It is more accurate. However it is also expensive, in 2012, Bangladesh announced it was to spend 150 million dollars on satellites. However, there is only 1.
• Bangladesh has established warning systems run awareness campaigns, there are now 45,000 cyclone warning volunteers who live and work in threatened areas, people now know if they need to evacuate. However, not everyone has access to technology, meaning they cannot access digital warnings.
• Evacuation strategies have been heavily invested in, specifically cyclone shelters and evacuation procedures. There are 3500 cyclone shelters, some taking up to 5000 people, this reduces deaths. However cyclone shelters aren't always safe for women as they are mixed.
• Embankments have been built to prevent storm surges, main roads are built on the embankments, protecting it against rising sea levels. However, it is not possible to protect the entire country, as Bangladesh has a 400 km and lots of low lying rivers. However, if the embankments break, the flooding is much worse.