Myanmar disaster - May 07, 2008
As the death toll from the cyclone and resultant storm surge in Myanmar climbs (now some 22,000 according to the state media), aid efforts are still being hampered (LA Times).
The cyclone is being called the worst to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 died in Bangladesh (multiple sources). NASA has some satellite photos of the area taken before and after the storm, showing the extent of flooding (pictured here; NASA).
Why were things so bad? The storm was a severe one: peak wind speeds were 215 km/h (wikipedia), which makes it a category 4 storm in a scale of 1-5. But damage was exacerbated by the high density of people on the coast and the storm surge of up to 3.5 metres caused by the winds, said ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan (BBC). Storm surges of up to 5.5 metres can be typical of category 4 storms. Warnings were issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which named the storm in late April (history of warnings linked to in wikipedia, initially targeted at Bangladesh more than Myanmar). But commentators on BBC radio complained there was only a few hours of warning for the people affected. For the moment it’s hard to tell exactly what happened on the ground.
Pitsuwan has also blamed a destruction of natural mangroves along the coast for the excessive damage (BBC again). There don’t seem to be any supporting claims from ecologists or storm specialists as yet, though mangroves were thought responsible, in part, for limiting damage in Sri Lanka from the Asian tsunami in December 2004.
The NY Times ‘dot earth’ blog highlights the trajectory of the storm as plotted on Google Earth, and puts in a shout to maintain Earth observation satellite systems, including systems to consolidate and use the data.
Comments
Global Environment Centre from Malaysia has been undertaking work on the role of mangroves and coastal forests in protecting coastlines from storm surges and tsunamis since 2004.
We have been in touch with our local partners in Myanmar today who have been involved in restoring mangroves in the Irrawaddy Delta for the last few years. We can confirm that the mangroves and coastal forests of the affected area have been extensively cleared in the last 10 years leaving almost all of the coastline withoput any belt of natural vegetation. We believe strongly that this would have significantly increased the vulnerability of the coastal communities as most of the rice fields and villages are at or even slightly below sea level.
We are working with partners to document more clearly the impacts on and role that the small remaining mangrove and other forest areas had on the storm surge and local communities and what measures are needed to support the recovery.
We are happy to hear from anyone who has information to share.
Posted by: Faizal Parish | May 7, 2008 04:35 PM