Tropical Cyclone Laila Kills 83 in India, Sri Lanka

Cyclone Laila: Leaves 83 dead, 600,000 Displaced

Cyclone Laila weakened into a depression on Friday and later became a low pressure area as it moved toward south Orissa, leaving in its wake a trail of death and destruction including at least 57 dead and 75,000 more people displaced, official sources said.

In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, a week of heavy rains and flooding left at least 26 people  dead and more than half a million others displaced, officials at the Disaster Management Center reported on May May 21.

One of Cyclone Laila’s thunderstorms reached nearly 18km (11 miles) high

This 3-D image of Cyclone Laila was made using data from TRMM’s Precipitation Radar. It shows that the powerful thunderstorms northwest of tropical cyclone Laila shot up to heights above 17.5 kilometers (~57,415 feet/10.8 miles). Source: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce

Tropical Cyclone Laila Soaks India

Tropical Cyclone Laila brought heavy rains and strong winds to the Bay of Bengal and parts of India in May 2010. This color-coded image shows estimated rainfall amounts for May 17 through May 19, as well as the storm track from May 17 to May 20. The heaviest amounts of rain—300 or more millimeters (12 or more inches)—appear in dark blue. The lightest amounts of rain—less than 37.5 millimeters (1.5 inches)—appear in pale green. The storm track is indicated by a pink line. The thicker, darker portion of that line shows where the storm intensified on May 19. This image is based on data from the Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis produced at Goddard Space Flight Center, which estimates rainfall by combining measurements from many satellites and calibrating them using rainfall measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Source of image and [edited] caption: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge.

Tropical Cyclone Laila

Tropical Cyclone Laila hovered over the eastern coastline of India and the Bay of Bengal, and skirted Sri Lanka on May 19, 2010. MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. Spanning hundreds of kilometers, the storm extends a spiral arm toward the northeast, covering much of India’s coast. In the south, the storm spans most of southern India. Source of image and [edited] caption: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge.

Related Links:

• Cyclone Laila Forces 50,000 Indians to Evacuate
• 2010 Disaster Calendar [May]
• 2010: Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters

Cyclone Laila Forces 50,000 Indians to Evacuate

Indian Authorities Evacuate up to 50,000 as TC Laila makes landfall

Up to 50,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Laila approaches southern India.

“Already the Andhra Pradesh coast is being battered by high tides and fierce winds. Even though the windfall is expected only in the evening, the waves and the winds have already caused extensive damage in coastal districts, where trees have been uprooted, cars smashed and roads damaged. Communication and power supplies have also been disrupted and air and train services have come to a halt,” a government official said.

At least 13 people have already been killed in the past 36 hours  as a result of  torrential rains, according to various News Bulletins.

Tropical Cyclone Laila. Source of image:  CIMSS Tropical Cyclones Group. Click image to enlarge.

TC Laila has maxi,u, sustained winds of about 92.5km/hr with gusts of up to 120km/hr as of 12:00UTC, 20 May 2010, according to JTWC, CIMSS and other sources.

So far the most damaging aspect of TC Laila has been its accompanying torrential rains that have pounded the  state Tamil Nadu.

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