“Mahasen” is the name of a tropical cyclone which struck the southern coast of Bangladesh on 16 May 2013. It has affected as much as 8.2 million people in the coastal area of the country. Thousands of people have become homeless and many others died in Bangladesh and neighbouring country Myanmar
Though it was a relatively weak tropical cyclone; it caused loss of life across six countries in Southern and Southeastern Asia. On May 13, the Government of Bangladesh raised storm alert to level seven (on a ten-level scale). All public and some private buildings were declared to be treated as evacuation centers. Most of them were packed overnight. The Bangladeshi armed forces and air force were placed on stand-by for rescue and relief missions. By May 15, 3,770 shelters were opened to house victims across the country. Roughly 50,000 volunteers were placed on alert. The country's second-largest city, Chittagong, was brought to a stand-still and airports were shut down.
On May 16, Mahasen struck the southern part of Bangladesh, bringing heavy rains and winds up to 95 km/h (60 mph). Though the storm was weaker than anticipated, rains over the country preceding the cyclone disrupted the natural life of the people of the whole country. In some areas, more than a month's worth of rain fell over within two weeks. Rains amounted to 253 mm (10.0 in) fell in parts of Patuakhali District. Low-lying coastal areas of the country were flooded by a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) storm surge. However, low tide lessened the impact of the surge. Damage in these regions was less than initially feared.
Government assessments say that about 49,178 homes were totally destroyed while another 45,825 were damaged due to Mahasen. Tens thousands trees were downed, causing serious travel disruptions. At least 17 people were killed across the country, all of whom were in the southwestern coastal areas. Thousands of people were also injured and many livestock were killed.
The most severe damage and greatest loss of life took place in the Barguna District. The devastating storm took a toll of seven lives and damaged thousands of houses there.
Mahasen claimed lives of four people and destroyed hundreds of houses and structures in the coastal district Bhola. “Two upazilas—Monpura and Charfashon—were heavily affected by Mahasen. Other parts of the district didn’t witness the full-scale of the disaster.
In
the Patuakhali District, severe damage to houses and agriculture took place.
Many standing crops flattened by gale-force winds. Roughly
128,000 hectares (316,300 acres) of crops in Patuakhali were damaged,
roughly half of which was for sweet potato. In Kalapara, a college building has
completely been destroyed.
According to information from local administration, the cyclonic storm damaged
3,029 houses in 33 unions in Noakhali. About 19,126 people were the sufferers
of the devastating storm. But none was killed by Mahasen here as the
administration took strong precautionary measures to face the storm.
In Pirojpur district, cyclone Mahasen killed one in Mathbaria upazila and razed 600 houses into shreds.
Apart from Bangladesh, Mahasen also visited and created havoc in Myanmar also. There, more than hundred people have died and numerous others have been injured due to the storm. The relatively low death toll was seen as a great success of Bangladesh's disaster preparation. We hope that we will be more skillful in future to minimize the loss of such disasters.
