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As Tropical Cyclone Fani moves into northeastern India and Bangladesh this week, it's a reminder of the tragic history of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, including one that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

On Nov. 11, 1970, the Great Bhola Cyclone moved into East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh, and produced devastating storm-surge flooding. The maximum storm surge was estimated at nearly 35 feet high, roaring over the flat, low-lying region and producing massive destruction.
(MORE: Tropical Cyclone Season Peaks Twice in the Northern Indian Ocean)
Warnings were issued by Pakistan's meteorological service, but not many people sought shelter and others lacked a nearby shelter or had no way of reaching one, according to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division.

The combination of storm surge and a lack of evacuation resulted in a massive death toll, estimated to be 300,000 to 500,000 people. This makes it the deadliest known tropical cyclone in history. Over 45 percent of the population of 167,000 in the city of Tazumuddin was killed, according to the University of Rhode Island.

Sadly, this isn't the only tropical cyclone that has resulted in a large death toll in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, 10 tropical cyclones since 1876 have caused 5,000 or more deaths. Four of those cyclones killed 100,000 or more. Most recently, Cyclone Gorky killed nearly 140,000 in 1991.

Bangladesh isn't the only country with a deadly history of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal.

The northeastern coast of India is prone to storm surge. This list from Weather Underground shows that India has seen several tropical cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal that resulted in some extremely high death tolls.

The deadliest tropical cyclone to hit India in the last few decades was the 1999 Odisha Cyclone, which struck northeastern India in the state of Odisha as a Category 4-equivalent storm with 155-mph winds on Oct. 29, 1999.

That cyclone, which had been at Category 5-equivalent strength with 160-mph winds and a 912-millibar central pressure shortly before landfall, pushed a storm surge of 26 feet (8 meters) onto the northeastern Indian coast. The storm stalled just inland, dumping torrential rainfall on portions of India already saturated from the landfall of Category 4-equivalent Tropical Cyclone 04B just 12 days earlier.

The 1999 Odisha Cyclone killed 9,658 people and caused $2.5 billion in damages (1999 dollars). It was India's most expensive and fourth-deadliest tropical cyclone in the past 100 years, according to Bob Henson, meteorologist and climate blogger at Weather Underground.

Cyclone Nargis in 2008 devastated the southern delta region of Myanmar, southeast of Bangladesh, with extreme storm-surge flooding. More than 130,000 people were killed.

For perspective, the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history was the 1900 Galveston hurricane, which killed an estimated 8,000 people. Hurricane Katrina, the third-deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, was directly responsible for 1,200 fatalities.

Several factors make the Bangladesh coast and portions of the Myanmar and India coasts vulnerable to storm surge.

- These areas with the high death tolls are low in elevation and have high populations because of agriculture in the region. This puts many people at risk if they do not follow warnings to protect themselves or if sufficient shelter is not available.

- The northern end of the Bay of Bengal is shallow and narrow. This creates a funnel for the huge surge from strong tropical cyclones moving north or northeastward into the low-lying land areas.

- High astronomical tides significantly add to height of the surge if the cyclone is making landfall during high tide. According the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, this was the case in both the 1970 and 1991 cyclones.

- Areas along the coast have many small inlets that water is forced into by landfalling tropical cyclones, which causes flooding of adjacent land areas.

Given the rise in sea levels expected with climate change, these locations' vulnerability to flooding will likely only get worse. One tiny island involved in a dispute between India and Bangladesh disappeared in 2010 due to rising water, the Guardian reported. Another island nearby was submerged by water in 1996, forcing residents to evacuate to the mainland.

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The Deadliest Tropical Cyclone on Record Killed 300,000 People | The Weather Channel

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As Tropical Cyclone Fani moves into northeastern India and Bangladesh this week, it's a reminder of the tragic history of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, including one that killed hundreds of thousands of people. On Nov. 11, 1970, the Great Bhola Cyclone moved into East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh, and produced devastating storm-surge flooding.

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Why Hurricane Categories Make a Difference

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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Hurricane season is here, so the time is now to make sure your hurricane kit is fully stocked.

A basic emergency supply kit includes the following items:

Water: One gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation

Food: At least a three-day supply of non-perishable food

Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both

Flashlight and extra batteries

First aid kit

Medications

Whistle to signal for help

Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place

Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation

Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities

Manual can opener for food

Local maps

Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

Pet food, leashes, crates, medications

You can stay weather aware by checking our tropical update page here.
During Hurricane Harvey many pet owners didn't know what to do with their furry family members. You can find the list of things you'll need to keep your pet safe during a storm here.

For more tips on how to prepare for hurricane season, visit the National Hurricane Center's website.

Click here for your ABC13 Hurricane Guide

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How to build a hurricane preparedness kit

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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Hurricane season is here, so the time is now to make sure your hurricane kit is fully stocked.

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There is a ritual of sorts that goes on in Florida every year when folks get wind of the news that a big storm is a-brewing. Windows are boarded, boats are dry-docked and grocery stores and home improvement stores are picked clean of anything that might come in handy in the unlikely event that a massive hurricane hits.

What keeps people going through the annual routine of following spaghetti models and prepping for the big one in the Sunshine State and other coastal areas is that many have seen a hurricane or two, and they know the kind of serious destruction these storms can cause. From an 18th-century hurricane that ravaged the Caribbean to the devastating blow issued by Sandy in 2012, history is replete with stories of the wreckage and ruin that come with a major storm.

By definition, a hurricane is a tropical storm with winds above 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour). The systems occur all over the world. In the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, they are called hurricanes. In the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, they are called cyclones and in the Western Pacific, they are called typhoons.

The following hurricanes aren't necessarily the deadliest of all time, or the costliest. But they all sit at the intersection of property damage, powerful winds and human tragedy, and all captured the world's attention for differing reasons. We've listed them in order of lives lost.

Hurricane Michael decimated the Florida Panhandle, particularly in the Panama City Beach, Mexico Beach and Cape San Blas, when it made landfall Oct. 10, 2018 as a Category 5. It was the strongest hurricane ever to hit that area and only the second Category 5 to make landfall on the Gulf Coast. Michael also was the first Category 5 storm to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Hurricane Michael started as a typical weak October Caribbean tropical system. However, once the system moved over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it rapidly intensified and became a major hurricane with sustained winds of 161 miles per hour (259 kilometers per hour). The catastrophic damage was caused from wind and storm surge, and spread inland into southwest Georgia.

Michael caused 16 deaths in four states, including Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Damage estimates from the Insurance Information Institute from Michael total between $9 and $12 billion.

After traveling through the Gulf of Mexico in late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey arrived in the United States as a Category 4 storm. At the time it was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States in a decade, after 2005's Hurricane Wilma. The arrival of Harvey coincided with its peak intensity: winds of 130 miles per hour (215 kilometers per hour). Coastal communities in Texas like Corpus Christi and Galveston were hard-hit, but the most striking damage was in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country.

Flooding in Houston was severe, as Harvey remained over the area for days, dumping up to 50 inches (127 centimeters) of water in certain locations. That's the same amount of rainfall Houston usually sees in an entire year, all deposited in a four-day span, and the area's ecosystem and manmade environment were both overwhelmed. The storm also affected communities like Beaumont, Texas, where the entire city was cut off from fresh drinking water. Then-FEMA director Brock Long called Harvey " probably the worst disaster the state's seen."

More than 13,000 people required rescuing throughout Texas, and an overall 30,000 people from that state were displaced by floodwaters. And while Texas was hardest-hit, the storm also affected communities in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and beyond. Damage estimates were around $121 billion, making it the fourth-most expensive hurricane in U.S. history.

Harvey claimed at least 82 lives in Texas. Officials say that number includes those who died as a direct result of the storm, drowning in flash floods or on roads.

When Hurricane Camille hit in August 1969, it was a nasty storm that brought heavy flooding and 200-mile per hour (320-kilometer per hour) winds to the Gulf Coast and later Virginia. It also was one of only two Category 5 hurricanes to hit the Continental U.S. since 1900. (Since then two others have made landfall: Andrew in 1992 and Michael in 2018.) After forming near the Cayman Islands in August 1969, Camille first blew through Cuba as a Category 3 but intensified in the Gulf of Mexico making a beeline for Mississippi where it made landfall between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian Aug. 18. Exact wind speed at landfall is unknown, as weather instruments were destroyed, though estimates put suggest gusts were as high as 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour). However, with 900 mb pressure at landfall, Camille still ranks as the second most intense hurricane to hit the continental U.S.

Winds as high as 100 miles per hour were clocked across much of Southern Mississippi, leading to wind damage far inland. A 24-foot (7-meter) storm surge also contributed to major devastation in Mississippi. Camille eventually weakened to a tropical storm as it moved up the East Coast and reached Virginia, but the storm continued to dump upward of 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain on the region, contributing to flash flooding and mudslides just 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the nation's capital. The storm resulted in 256 deaths and more than $1.4 billion in damage.

Camille played an important role in hurricane tracking in that it spawned the creation of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which ranks storms from categories 1 to 5 based on wind speed. Category 1 hurricanes blow winds ranging from 74 to 95 miles (119 to 153 kilometers), while those in the Category 5 range feature wind speeds of more than 156 miles (251 kilometers) an hour. The system is designed to give residents in danger zones a better idea of what to expect from a brewing storm.

Hurricane Katrina is often referred to as a man-made, rather than natural, disaster by those who fault infrastructure problems for the decimation caused by this storm that ravaged New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast.

On Aug. 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina looked like a hurricane that was fizzling out, but it began rapidly strengthening to Category 5 levels over warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. By Aug. 28, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for New Orleans. As the Category 3 hurricane reached the city, water topped over its systems of levees causing them to break and the streets to flood. Eventually, 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater.

Katrina left residents who couldn't - or chose not to - evacuate stranded in their homes with waters rising around them. Forty percent of hurricane-related deaths were from drowning. Slow federal government reaction to the plight of those affected led to claims of incompetence and even deliberate disregard for poor and Black people.

In all, Hurricane Katrina claimed 1,833 lives and at $161 billion is considered the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. The Federal Emergency Management Agency called it "the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history."

Hurricane Katrina also displaced 400,000 people to areas like Houston and Atlanta. Many never returned. An upgraded system of levees was completed in 2013, but officials are worried about the massive cost of maintaining them with a shrunken tax base.

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The Americas have been hit with some major hurricanes throughout the decades. But which were the worst ones in history?

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How Do Hurricanes Form? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

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Hurricane | The Dr. Binocs Show | Educational Videos For Kids

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Hurricane Katrina Day by Day | National Geographic

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Hurricanes - Learning about Hurricanes for kids and children

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How Do Hurricanes Form? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

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Here’s how hurricanes form—and why they’re so destructive

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Also known as typhoons and cyclones, these storms can annihilate coastal areas. The Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane season peaks from mid-August to late October.

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Given the destruction the storm unleashes, it's easy to think of a hurricane as a kind of monster. It may not be a living organism, but it does require sustenance in the form of warm, moist air. And if a tropical disturbance continues to find enough of this "food" and to encounter optimal wind and pressure conditions, it will just keep growing.

It can take anywhere from hours to days for a tropical disturbance to develop into a hurricane. But if the cycle of cyclonic activity continues and wind speeds increase, the tropical disturbance advances through three stages:

1. Tropical depression: wind speeds of less than 38 mph

2. Tropical storm: wind speeds of 39 to 73 mph

3. Hurricane: wind speeds greater than 74 mph

Between 80 and 100 tropical storms develop each year around the world. Many of them die out before they can grow too strong, but around half of them eventually achieve hurricane status.

Hurricanes vary widely in physical size. Some storms are compact, with only a few bands of wind and rain trailing behind them. Other storms are looser -- the bands of wind and rain spread out over hundreds or thousands of miles. Hurricane Floyd, which hit the eastern United States in September 1999, was felt from the Caribbean islands to New England.

Once a hurricane has formed and intensified, the only remaining path for the atmospheric juggernaut is dissipation. Eventually, the storm will encounter conditions that deny it the warm, moist air it requires. When a hurricane moves onto cooler waters at a higher latitude, gradient pressure decreases, winds slow, and the entire storm is tamed, from a tropical cyclone to a weaker extratropical cyclone that peters out in days.

That important supply of warm, moist air also vanishes when the hurricane makes landfall. Condensation and the release of latent heat diminishes, and the friction of an uneven landscape decreases wind speeds. This causes winds to move more directly into the eye of the storm, eliminating the large pressure difference that fuels the storm's awesome power.

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Given the destruction the storm unleashes, it's easy to think of a hurricane as a kind of monster. It may not be a living organism, but it does require sustenance in the form of warm, moist air. And if a tropical disturbance continues to find enough of this "food" and to encounter optimal wind and pressure conditions, it will just keep growing.

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The death toll from Sandy as of Nov. 1 was at least 149. The confirmed deaths include 42 in New York; 12 in New Jersey; nine in Maryland; six in Pennsylvania; five in West Virginia; four in Connecticut; two in Virginia; and one in North Carolina. One person died in Canada, and at least 67 people were killed in the Caribbean, including 54 in Haiti.

(Image credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project)

Origin of storm
Sandy began as a tropical wave in the Caribbean on Oct. 19. It quickly developed, becoming a tropical depression and then a tropical storm in just six hours. Tropical Storm Sandy was the 18th named storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. It was upgraded to a hurricane on Oct. 24 when its maximum sustained winds reached 74 mph (119 kph).

Sandy tore through the Caribbean, making landfall at Jamaica on Oct. 24. After leaving that island, the storm gained strength over open water and became a Category 2. The storm hit Cuba early Oct. 25, then weakened to a Category 1. On Oct. 26, it swept across the Bahamas. Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm on Oct. 27, then gained strength again to become a Category 1 hurricane before turning north toward the U.S. coast.
Sandy slams Jersey shore
Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the United States about 8 p.m. EDT Oct. 29, striking near Atlantic City, N.J., with winds of 80 mph. A full moon made high tides 20 percent higher than normal and amplified Sandy's storm surge. Streets were flooded, trees and power lines knocked down and the city's famed boardwalk was ripped apart. Along the Jersey shore, people were left stranded in their homes and waited for rescue teams in boats to rescue them. More than 80 homes were destroyed in one fire in Queens. Several other fires were started throughout the New York metro area.

Seawater surged over Lower Manhattan's seawalls and highways and into low-lying streets. The water inundated tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street and sent hospital patients and tourists scrambling for safety. Skyscrapers swayed and creaked in winds that partially toppled a crane 74 stories above Midtown. A large tanker ship ran aground on the city's Staten Island.

As of Nov. 1, about 4.7 million people in 15 states were without electricity, down from nearly 8.5 million a day earlier. Subway tunnels in Lower Manhattan remained flooded, but some lines had resumed service. Airlines, which had canceled more than 15,000 flights around the world, were returning to normal schedules. Most gas stations in New York City and New Jersey were closed because of power shortages and depleted fuel supplies. Long lines formed at gas stations that were expected to open.

Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the United States, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm. The New York City mayor's office in late November estimated total losses to the city to be $19 billion and asked the federal government for $9.8 billion in aid for costs not covered by insurance or FEMA.

By Nov. 1, Sandy had dissipated. The National Weather Service reported that "multiple remnants" were circulating across the lower Great Lakes region and moving into Canada. Some areas were getting residual rain and snow showers. Tides were back down to less than a foot above normal.
Frankenstorm
Sandy, the 10th hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, earned the nickname "Frankenstorm," as well as other descriptive appellations, such as "Blizzacane" and "Snor-eastercane." The National Hurricane Center's official name for the storm is "Post Tropical Cyclone Sandy." Many media outlets started calling it "Superstorm Sandy" after the storm made landfall, weakened and was downgraded from hurricane status.

At one point, Sandy's hurricane-force winds (at least 74 mph) extended up to 175 miles (280 kilometers) from its center and tropical storm-force winds (39 mph) out to 485 miles (780 km). Even so, according to the NHC, Sandy was still only the second-largest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record. Hurricane Olga, another late-in-the-year storm, set the record in 2001, with tropical-force winds extending 600 miles (965 km).

Sandy set other records, however, CNN reported. When hurricane hunter aircraft measured its central pressure at 940 millibars - 27.76 inches - Monday afternoon (Oct. 29), it was the lowest barometric reading ever recorded for an Atlantic storm to make landfall north of Cape Hatteras, N.C. The previous record holder was the 1938 "Long Island Express" Hurricane, which dropped as low as 946 millibars.

Sandy's strength and angle of approach combined to produce a record storm surge of water into New York City. The surge level at Battery Park topped 13.88 feet at 9:24 p.m. Monday, surpassing the 10.02 feet record water level set by Hurricane Donna in 1960.

New York Harbor's surf also reached a record level when a buoy measured a 32.5-foot wave Monday. That wave was 6.5 feet taller than a 25-foot wave churned up by Hurricane Irene in 2011. [ Infographic: How Hurricanes Work]
Presidential campaign interrupted
President Barack Obama joined New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Oct. 31 to inspect the devastation, flying over flooded neighborhoods along the New Jersey coastline. He declared states of emergency in New York and New Jersey to allow federal aid to start flowing into damaged areas.

Republican Mitt Romney canceled political rallies on Oct. 29 and 30, turning one campaign appearance into a "storm relief" event. He gave brief non-political remarks and spent less than an hour collecting hurricane relief donations and loading them into a truck. Romney resumed his campaign on Oct. 31, using a Florida campaign stop to criticize the president's record. Obama resumed campaign appearances on Nov. 1.

The storm's political impact is still unknown. Concrete effects on Election Day are yet to be tallied: how many early voting days lost, how many voters who don't make it to the polls because of power outages, damaged homes or cleanup duties, whether any polling places or election equipment are damaged. Parts of four states seen as pivotal to this election were hit - North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire.
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Superstorm Sandy: Facts About the Frankenstorm

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The death toll from Sandy as of Nov. 1 was at least 149. The confirmed deaths include 42 in New York; 12 in New Jersey; nine in Maryland; six in Pennsylvania; five in West Virginia; four in Connecticut; two in Virginia; and one in North Carolina.

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Interested in extreme weather events? Then a hurricane-a swirling mass of wind, rain, thunder, and chaos-will intrigue you. Hurricanes begin over tropical and subtropical ocean water. They start when warm water, moist air, and strong winds collide and create a rotating bundle of thunderstorms and clouds. A hurricane might last a few hours or several days.

How Hurricanes Form

Some hurricanes roar onto land bringing punishing wind, torrential rain, walls of water, even tornados. The wind, rain, and water surge wreak havoc on the coastline and damage hundreds of miles inland.

Violent winds flip cars, sink boats, and rip houses apart. Hurricane winds range from 74 miles an hour to 150 ​miles an hour​ or more. Wind creates high waves and pushes the water onto shore. The water surge can be 30 feet high. That's as high as a 3-story building. Storm surges cause most of the fatalities and damage.

In addition to the storm surge, hurricanes bring rain. Lots of rain. In 2009, a storm hammered Taiwan with 114 inches of rain in only three days. Hurricane rains cause landslides, flash floods, and long-term floods.

Because meteorologists can predict and track hurricanes, people living in a hurricane's path can stay safe by advance preparation, including an evacuation plan, creating an emergency kit with food, water, and other supplies (don't forget your pets), and most importantly by listening to local authorities on the best ways to stay safe.

Eye: The eye can be 20-40 miles wide. In the eye, rather than dark clouds and rain, one might see blue sky or a starry night. It's known as the calm center of the storm.

Eyewall: The clouds that swirl around the eyehave the most intense rain and winds, sometimes as fast as 200 miles an hour.

Rain bands: The rain and wind come in heavy bursts in this region and spiral in toward the eyewall. Rain bands are the outside areas of a storm and can be found as far as a few hundred miles from the eye.

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Interested in extreme weather events? Then a hurricane-a swirling mass of wind, rain, thunder, and chaos-will intrigue you. Hurricanes begin over tropical and subtropical ocean water. They start when warm water, moist air, and strong winds collide and create a rotating bundle of thunderstorms and clouds.