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| Messages 1 - 9 of total 9 in this topic |
i'm gumby dammit
Sport climber
da ow
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 20, 2018 - 11:35pm PT
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i don't know anywhere that wouldn't scoff at these numbers but it's like they've never seen a storm like this before.
Tropical Cyclone Gaja hit the southeastern coast of India Friday. More than 80,000 residents were evacuated and residents living in low-lying areas were moved into more than 470 relief centers across six districts.
With the storm came heavy rains and winds of 55 miles per hour, according to Narendra Kumar, an official of the National Disaster Response Force.
The Times of India reported that the storm claimed 33 lives. Many of the deaths caused by wall collapses, downed trees and electrocution, said NDRF official Umesh, who uses one name.
The storm is expected to lose strength as it moves through the rest of southern India through Friday. Imminent threats include strong winds, flooding rain and mudslides. Rainfall is forecasted to total 3 to 5 inches, with up to 8 inches locally.
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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Nov 21, 2018 - 01:07am PT
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I'm guessing many of those evacuees are basically living in thrown up shacks, tarps, and any other kind of material they are able to scrounge around and find.
If their home is made of brick they're usually a bit better off, but often these 'low-lying areas' are poor regions along coastal and river areas that have a fairly high concentration of poor people.
Pretty much ANY storm will displace people in this part of the world. The more intense the storms the numbers increase astronomically.
If you've ever seen the infrastructure (ie electricity lines/grid, buildings and materials used) you'd understand better.
Add in any kind of storm surge and it's easy to see.
I'd post photos to show you but there is plenty already on the net I'm guessing.
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ecdh
climber
the east
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Nov 21, 2018 - 02:08am PT
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Some places are already in a slow no catastrophe. As Dd says, it can be like a typhoon has already been thru, so another gale and several cms of rain just tips it.
'Resilience' is the UN term for a places ability to withstand such things. Blue tarps, sodden land and barefeet don't entail much.
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okay, whatever
climber
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Nov 21, 2018 - 05:10am PT
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Keep in mind that the eastern part of India also experiences the summer monsoon each year (and to a lesser extent, the winter monsoon... the offshore airflow).
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado & Nepal
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Nov 21, 2018 - 06:22am PT
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To me, the greater question is how people living in the United States with all its wealth and supposed building codes ends up with such destruction after every hurricane? The only reason we don't have more fatalities is that the average person has a car with which to drive inland.
I lived in southern Japan for 30 years where we had an average of 5 typhoons a year and our electricity only went off once during that whole time. Of course the Japanese have strict building codes and the utility poles are made from reinforced concrete. Almost all of the houses are reinforced concrete as well with metal shutters and vacuum locked windows guaranteed to withstand 200 mph winds.
In the U.S. by contrast, instead of strengthening the building codes and the infrastructure, our government provides flood insurance and rebuilds the same houses in the same style and the same trailer parks time after time. I have well off relatives in North Carolina, who have had their vacation condo rebuilt for free, three times now at taxpayers expense. The fact that the Indian government is able to save so many lives in such a poor and crowded environment shows a better level of planning to my mind.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Nov 21, 2018 - 08:09am PT
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our government provides flood insurance and rebuilds the same houses in the same style and the same trailer parks time after time actually, it doesn't.
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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Nov 21, 2018 - 08:36am PT
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I have well off relatives in North Carolina, who have had their vacation condo rebuilt for free, three times now at taxpayers expense.
Love those NC beach properties.
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i'm gumby dammit
Sport climber
da ow
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 21, 2018 - 08:39am PT
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I think a lot of what i was getting at is that the southeast coast of india looks like it should get a number of tropical type storms. i know they get monsoons so 3-5" of rain shouldn't be a big deal. 55mph shouldn't be a big deal either.
And to answer Jan's question it is clearly due to the strength of the storms we are seeing now here.
Hurricane Florence brought in over 30 inches of rain.
Hurricane Michael brought 155 mph sustained winds. Contrast that with Typhoon Jebi (the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years) that brought 110 mph sustained winds.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado & Nepal
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Nov 21, 2018 - 10:08am PT
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I have lived through 180 mph winds and the windows didn't break and the electricity stayed on. As for 55 mph winds, if you are trying to walk in them, you'll get blown down and if your house is made of cardboard and tin, it will too.
One thing that helped in Okinawa is that we knew to open a small window on the downwind side of the storm to help equalize the pressure. I had one such window above my bathtub and often ended up with what looked like chopped salad in the tub afterwards, but the windows were intact.
Meanwhile, it isn't just the strength of the winds that cause destruction, it is the length of time the storm takes to pass over and whether the eye of the storm crosses over. A super typhoon that passes quickly will cause less damage than 75-100 mph which takes 15 or 20 hours to pass. If it is a slow moving typhoon and the eye passes directly over, you can get beaten from one side for 12 hours and from the other side for 12 hours also. Those are quite destructive as they force salt spray into everything. Old concrete houses in Okinawa have to be periodically torn down because the salt spray penetrates the unsealed concrete and rusts the rebar from inside. Salt spra can also kill all the crops and vegetation which even in the tropics will take 3 months to grow back.
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