Open AccessOcean‐Atmosphere Interactions During Cyclone Nargis
Author(s) -
McPhaden Michael J.,
Foltz Gregory R.,
Lee Tony,
Murty V. S. N.,
Ravichandran M.,
Vecchi Gabriel A.,
Vialard Jerome,
Wiggert Jerry D.,
Yu Lisan
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2009eo070001
Subject(s) - storm surge , cyclone (programming language) , storm , river delta , tropical cyclone , maximum sustained wind , natural disaster , landfall , environmental science , climatology , geography , meteorology , delta , geology , wind speed , wind direction , physics , engineering , wind gradient , field programmable gate array , astronomy , embedded system
Cyclone Nargis (Figure 1a) made landfall in Myanmar (formerly Burma) on 2 May 2008 with sustained winds of approximately 210 kilometers per hour, equivalent to a category 3–4 hurricane. In addition, Nargis brought approximately 600 millimeters of rain and a storm surge of 3–4 meters to the low‐lying and densely populated Irrawaddy River delta. In its wake, the storm left an estimated 130,000 dead or missing and more than $10 billion in economic losses. It was the worst natural disaster to strike the Indian Ocean region since the 26 December 2004 tsunami and the worst recorded natural disaster ever to affect Myanmar.