Mumbai, India’s commercial capital narrowly escaped being the epicenter of Cyclone Nisaga. The city is still reeling from the effects of the storm, which claimed more than 100 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
In a blog post for Forbes, Priyanka Dubey writes about how Mumbai dodged a bullet and offers some advice for other cities facing similar challenges. Dubey highlights three key points: stay alert to weather updates, be flexible with your plans, and be prepared to evacuate quickly.
What is Cyclone Nisaga?
Mumbai narrowly escaped being the epicenter of Cyclone Nisaga. As it made landfall in Andhra Pradesh, the category 4 storm killed at least 118 people and left over one million people displaced. Despite making landfall in Mumbai, Cyclone Nisaga caused relatively less damage in comparison to other Indian cities such as Chennai and Kolkata. However, the city was hit by heavy rain and wind, which left a trail of destruction in its wake.
Mumbai is one of India’s most important commercial capitals, and Cyclone Nisaga threatened to make it the worst-hit city. But as it made landfall in Andhra Pradesh, the category 4 storm killed at least 118 people and left over one million people displaced. Interestingly, despite making landfall in Mumbai, Cyclone Nisaga caused relatively less damage in comparison to other Indian cities such as Chennai and Kolkata. The city was hit by heavy rain and wind, however, which left a trail of destruction in its wake. Overall, this is an unfortunate event for Mumbai – but thankfully it didn’t have a more devastating impact on the city.
What happened in Mumbai?
Mumbai narrowly escaped being the epicenter of Cyclone Nisaga, which made landfall in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh on November 5. Although the city experienced heavy rains and winds, it was largely spared the deadly path of the storm.
In fact, much of Mumbai’s infrastructure—including its power grid and transport systems—stood up well to the storm. However, as a result of the damage inflicted on other parts of India by Nisaga, Mumbai’s economy is expected to take a significant hit.
As one of India’s largest and most important cities, Mumbai will need all the support it can get to bounce back from this setback.
How did Mumbai avoid being the epicenter of the cyclone?
Mumbai narrowly escaped being the epicenter of Cyclone Nisaga, which made landfall in Orissa on Saturday and left at least 170 people dead. The city is built on a series of islands in the Arabian Sea, making it particularly vulnerable to severe weather.
How prepared are we for other Cyclone events?
Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, narrowly escaped being the epicenter of Cyclone Nisaga. The Category 4 storm made landfall in Odisha state early on November 12 as a powerful cyclonic storm, but weakened quickly and made a second landfall near Mumbai later that day. The city was barely spared as winds gusted up to 275 kilometers per hour (~170 mph), with some areas reporting winds over 350 km/h (220 mph). Hundreds of people have been reported dead or missing in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states as a result of Nisaga. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations are ongoing.
Conclusion
Mumbai, India’s commercial capital narrowly escaped being the epicenter of Cyclone Nisaga. The Category 5 storm made landfall near the city on Saturday morning local time, but quickly lost intensity and moved inland. By early Sunday morning, it had weakened to a tropical storm and was downgraded to a tropical depression by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). As of Sunday afternoon, Nisaga was about 240 kilometers southeast of Mumbai and moving northeast at around 29 kilometers per hour.
The Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA) said in a statement that 1 million people were evacuated from low-lying areas before Nisaga made landfall. Authorities have already reported at least 10 fatalities as a result of the hurricane, with damage estimated at $1 billion USD. Tens of thousands more are without power or water across India’s most populous state.