1. Cyclone Taute – 2021
Cyclone Taute was marked as an extremely severe cyclone. In this, on May 17, 2021, it knocked on the southern coast of Gujarat. At that time the country was battling the second wave of COVID-19. According to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center, it packed maximum sustained winds of 185 kmph. It affected the west coast of the country. It had become the ‘strongest tropical cyclone’ in at least two decades. More than 100 people died in this cyclone. The states most affected by this included Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
2. Cyclone Amphan – 2020
Amphan was the first super cyclone over the Bay of Bengal after the super cyclone of Odisha in 1999. Cyclone Amphan made landfall near Sundarbans in West Bengal on May 20, 2020. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Amphan was the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the North Indian Ocean. Due to this cyclone, there was an economic loss of about 14 billion USD in India. Due to this cyclone, 129 people died in India and Bangladesh.
3. Cyclone Fani – 2019
Cyclone Fani made landfall on the east coast of India near Puri in Odisha on May 3, 2019 with a wind speed of 175 kmph. This extremely severe cyclonic storm claimed 64 lives. The cyclone caused significant damage to infrastructure including houses, power lines, agricultural fields, communication networks and water supply systems.
4. Cyclone Vardah, 2016
Cyclone Vardah made landfall near Chennai on 12 December 2016. It was marked as a very severe cyclonic storm. Varada had killed 18 people in Tamil Nadu. The cyclone caused damage to infrastructure, uprooting of trees and power outages in Chennai and neighboring areas. In this, immediate warnings and preparedness measures helped in evacuating people from vulnerable areas.
5. Cyclone Hudhud-2014
Cyclone Hudhud made landfall in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on 12 October 2014. The cyclone had killed around 124 people. The superstorm caused significant damage to infrastructure including buildings, roads and the power grid. Visakhapatnam and adjoining areas were heavily affected due to heavy rains, strong winds, storm surges and floods.
6. Cyclone Phailin – 2013
Cyclone Phailin hit the Odisha coast on October 12, 2013, near Gopalpur in Ganjam district. The wind speed at the time the cyclone hit was around 200 kmph. About 1.2 crore were affected in 171 blocks of 18 districts of the state due to this cyclone. 44 people lost their lives in this cyclone.