Cyclone Nargis (2018)

Date: May 2, 2008

Place: Burma, also known as Myanmar

Result: At least 140,000 people died and 800,000 were left homeless; humanitarian agencies estimate that as many as 2.4 million people were directly affected by the storm.

Cyclone Nargis was an enormous, powerful tropical storm in 2018 that caused heavy damage to the Ayeryarwady Delta of Burma. Walls of water twelve feet high swept over the country, washing away homes made of bamboo and thatch and flooding the rice paddies and farmland people depended on for survival. In the worst-hit towns, tens of thousands of people died and nearly as many went missing, making it difficult to determine the death toll from the storm. Some humanitarian agencies have reported that the storm may have claimed as many as one million lives.

The aftermath of the storm was problematic in part because the country had almost no disaster preparedness or response efforts in place. Furthermore, the government was initially unwilling to allow outside aid. Weeks passed before the government yielded to outside pressure and allowed supplies of food, water, and medicine into the country.

Background

A tropical storm occurs when an organized cloud mass with thunderstorms rotates and picks up moisture from warm tropical or subtropical waters. The warm air near the surface of the water rises to high in the atmosphere, where it begins to cool. The force of additional warm air rising beneath it forces the cool air to move to the outside of the storm, creating increasing wind force.

Once the winds reach a sustained speed of 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour), meteorologists refer to the storm as a cyclone, hurricane, or typhoon, depending on where it is located. Storms that form in the North Atlantic or Northeast Pacific Ocean are known as hurricanes. Those that occur in the Northwest Pacific Ocean are called typhoons. If the same type of storm occurs in the Indian or South Pacific Ocean, it is referred to as a cyclone. Meteorologists give these large storms names from a predetermined list to make it easier to refer to them.

The Southeast Asian country of Burma or Myanmar borders Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, and Thailand and has a population of more than 53 million. Burma gained independence from the British Commonwealth in 1948. Between 1962 and 2011, the country came under the rule of a military junta, which is a military group that forcibly takes over a government. The junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989, but many countries, including the United States and Britain, do not recognize the change because the government was not elected by the people.

Overview

Cyclone Nargis began over the Bay of Bengal in the last week of April 2008. On April 27, the cluster of clouds and storms met the criteria for tropical-depression status and was about 465 miles (748 kilometers) off the coast of India. The storm intensified into a cyclone on April 28 and stalled over the Bay of Bengal, where it picked up even more strength from the warm water. An infusion of drier air caused the storm to lose some steam and briefly be downgraded to a tropical storm. However, on May 1, it continued its eastward motion and once again reached cyclone status. The storm reached peak intensity on May 2, with winds of 135 miles per hour (217 kilometers). The full force of the storm swept over the Ayeryarwady Delta on May 2 and 3.

The country’s southern coast bore the brunt of the damage. There, many small low-lying rural towns were completely inundated by twelve-foot waves of storm-driven water. The water washed away rice paddies, farms, fisheries, and homes. It also destroyed much of the area’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and fuel sources.

People received little or no warning about the storm’s intensity because the country did not have an advance warning system in place. The country also lacked any significant form of disaster response or preparedness. In the aftermath of the storm, the more than two million people who were affected were left largely on their own.

Outside humanitarian agencies and other countries quickly offered aid, but the country’s junta rulers feared outside influences. They also imposed penalties on those within the country who tried to help the nearly fifty counties affected by the storm. However, outside agencies, including the United Nations (UN), pressured the junta, they yielded and allowed the UN to deliver food, water, and medical supplies beginning on May 9. Yet aid workers were not allowed in the country to help until May 19. On May 23, the country’s leaders finally allowed other outside agencies in to help.

Impact

The severity of the damage, rural nature of much of the affected area, and initial government restrictions made it difficult to determine the number of casualties. Officially, the government listed more than 80,000 people as dead and another 55,000 as missing. However, as time went on, the missing were eventually presumed dead, leading to a final official estimated death count of about 140,000, but some estimates are much higher.

Around 700,000 homes were destroyed, leaving entire villages homeless. Nearly three-quarters of the medical facilities in the affected area were damaged or destroyed as well. In addition to the rice paddies that many depended on, fisheries, farms, and livestock ranches were destroyed.

Over a three-year period following the flood, outside humanitarian agencies helped to rebuild the areas with the most devastation. New homes, schools, and places that benefitted the community were rebuilt or repaired. Resources for hygiene and mental health were provided, and thousands of sources of clean, safe water were established or refurbished. In addition, people in the area were trained in disaster preparedness and response, and equipment to facilitate communication and warnings, such as telephones and loud speakers, was made available.

The storm was the worst in Burma’s history in terms of lives lost and property damage. It also ranked high among the most devastating storms in Asian history. The total damages were estimated at $10 billion in 2008 US dollars.

Bibliography

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Gottlieb, Gregory. “10 Years After, Cyclone Nargis Still Holds Lessons for Myanmar.” Conversation, 2 May 2018, theconversation.com/10-years-after-cyclone-nargis-still-holds-lessons-for-myanmar-95039. Accessed 3 May 2019.

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Lynn, Kyaw Ye. “‘The tide was like a monster’: Ten Years After Nargis, Delta Remains Vulnerable.” Frontier Myanmar, 2 May 2018, frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-tide-was-like-a-monster-ten-years-after-nargis-delta-remains-vulnerable. Accessed 3 May 2019.

“Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis 2008 Facts and Figures.” International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 3 May 2011, www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/myanmar/myanmar-cyclone-nargis-2008-facts-and-figures/. Accessed 3 May 2019.

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Steele, Pamela. “Disaster Preparedness: Lessons from Cyclone Nargis.” Guardian, 16 July 2013, www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/jul/16/cyclone-nargis-burma-disaster-relief-aid. Accessed 3 May 2019.

“What Is the Difference Between a Cyclone and a Typhoon?” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/cyclone.html. Accessed 3 May 2019.