Burma

Natural Disaster
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
Group member list
 Lee Ho Kwong (7)
 Leung Chung Wai (8)
 Luk Chung Ling (9)
 Li Che Yung (26)
 Li Ka Man (27)
 Lui Wing Shan (28)
 Yuen Mei Ki (39)
 Content
 The meaning of tropical cyclone (P.4)
 Background information of Tropical
Cyclone Nargis (P.5-6)
 Formation of Tropical Cyclone Nargis (P.8-9)
 Route of Tropical Cyclone Nargis (P.10-17)
 Flooding (P.18-20)
 Factor for great destruction (P.21)
 Effect (P.22-26)
 Relief (P.27-29)
 Reference (P.30-31)
 The meaning of tropical cyclone
♠ a storm system
♠ named as hurricanes and
tropical storms in the Atlantic
Ocean
♠ named as typhoons in the
Pacific Ocean
♠ lifespan varies from a few days
to a few weeks
♠ lose their strength when they
move over land
♠ usually produce strong winds
and flooding rain
Background information of
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
 Background
 The cyclone is called "Nargis"
-Urdu word means daffodil

 Tropical Cyclone Nargis made landfall on

the south-western coast of Burma (Irrawaddy
Delta) on May 2, 2008

 Its power is equivalent

to a strong Category 3
or minimal Category 4
hurricane
Storm path 
 Basic Requirements for the
Formation of Tropical Cyclone
 develop over oceans 8° to 15°
North and South of the equator
 must originate over ocean

water that is at least 26.5 °C

 good cyclonic inflow
 good outflow channels at the upper levels
for effective ventilation
Formation of Tropical Cyclone Nargis
 absorb a continuous supply of
latent heat released from the
condensation in rising moist air in
the tropics

 the Coriolis Force ( an

effect that results from
the turning of the earth )

→makes the cyclone spiral and

maintains the low pressure of the
disturbance
 upper atmosphere : high pressure area
→ Air diverge and sink
 Lower atmosphere : low pressure area

→ air converge and rise

 This forms a vertical circulation ,which
means a tropical cyclone
 27 April 2008

 an area of deep convection

formed near a low-level
circulation in the central
part of Bay of Bengal (a bay that forms the
northeastern part of the Indian Ocean)

 India Meteorological Department (IMD)

classified the system as a low depression
27 April 2008
 later : low depression 
deep depression

 Joint Typhoon Warning

Center (JTWC) classified
it as Tropical Cyclone 01B
Symbol of JTWC
 track ed s lowl y
northw estward as ban ding
feat ures im prov ed
 28 April 2008
 IMD upgraded the system to Cyclonic Storm Nargis

 Later, IMD upgraded Nargis to a severe cyclonic

storm

 The cyclone developed a concentric eye feature

(an eye is a region of mostly calm weather found at
the center of strong tropical cyclones)

 warm waters help intensify the cyclone

→Power of the cyclone increased again
 29 April 2008
 JTWC estimated Nargis reached winds of
160 km/h
 IMD classified the system as a very severe
cyclonic storm

Firstly
 subsidence and drier air weakened the cyclone
 deep convection near the center markedly
decreased

Then
 convection had begun to rebuild
 immediate restrengthening was prevented by
increased wind shear
 1 May 2008
 greatly improved outflow in
association with an
approaching upper-level

→ cyclone was strengthening

continually

 developed a well-defined eye

with a diameter of 19 km
 2 May 2008
 Around 12:00 UTC , Cyclone Nargis made
landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division of Burma
(Irrawaddy Delta) near peak intensity (215 km/h)

 its proximity to the Andaman Sea preventing rapid

weakening

the approach of a mid-latitude trough to its

northwest
→its track turned to the northeast and passed the
north of Yangon with winds of 130 km/h
Topographic map of
Burma which was
affected by Cyclone
Nargis

 Coastal area was

seriously affected
 3 May 2008
 quickly weakened after
turning to the northeast near
the border of Burma and
Thailand

 deteriorating to minimal
tropical storm status
 Cause of Flooding
 Typhoon produces a
storm surge
 moved along the
Irrawaddy River Delta
to inland area
 Brought the seawater from the Bay of Bengal
to the land
 V-shaped relief of Burma
→ water was trapped

Flooding was as serious as tsunamis

 Nargis disaster = tsunami
 Many people died (↑hundreds of thousands)

 Houses were destroyed

 Rice Riot (↑price of rice)

 Spread of infectious diseases

Human factor for the great destruction
 Mangrove forests serve as
a natural barrier of storms
and flooding
 the growth of tourism and

the development of the

fishing industry

→the destroy of mangrove forests

 The destruction of the Tropical Cyclone
Nargis was great
Effects
 Casualties
 over 100,000 people died
 22,000 people died
(claimed by the government)
 56,000 people missing
 90,000 people were homeless
 thousands orphaned
children
 Destruction
 Damage is estimated at over
US$10 billion
 Many houses were destroyed
 basic infrastructure was damaged
 Power and telecommunications
systems have been affected
 diesel , natural gas and

petrol were unavailable

 Loss of possessions
 Condition of the refugees
Disruption in the water supply
→ shortage of clean drinking water

Food supplies are limited

→ looting and other violence related
to possible food shortages

 Lack of medicine

Flooding and mudslides

→ an increase in the transmission
of water-borne diseases
 Condition of the
refugees
-Insufficient of basic
necessaries,
E.g.clothes, shoes…

-Set up relief camps

Relief
 Action of the Burmese military
government
- initially resisted aid from foreign countries
- finally accepted aid after India's request
- but the government sell aid to the highest
bidder
- 23 May 2008 , Secretary-General of UN Ban
Ki-
moon held meetings with Myanmar’s Senior
General Than Shwe
→allow international aid workers
Aid
 Please look at this
video !
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7382685.stm
Reference
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargis#ci
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windstorm#Format
THE END