.
98 % mud homes destroyed.
Killed half million animals.
Destroyed roads and bridges.
LONG TERM EFFECTS 1991.
Salt water ruined soil for years, destroyed crops, led to food shortages, .
Dirty water - deaths due to typhoid etc.
Money used on disaster relief and not on development projects/ education/ health etc.
Tropical cyclones are frequent in the Bay of Bengal. Immediately pre-monsoon, and immediately post-monsoon periods are the seasons when cyclones and depressions form in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh has the worst record of cyclones and storm surges in the world. They destroy crops, damage infrastructure, homes and vital installations, and cause widespread health hazards for the people. Storm surges create both short and long-term problems because the salt water ruins the soils. They occur frequently and in such magnitude in Bangladesh that they have multiplied the problem of poverty and seriously challenged the efforts of the country towards self-reliance. Occasionally, tropical cyclones also cause enormous numbers of casualties. The cyclone disasters in 1970 (300,000 dead) and 1991 (138,000 dead) are among the worst natural disasters in the world.
Dozens are dead and thousands have been left homeless in the wake of a powerful cyclone that struck the southeastern coast of Bangladesh and the port city of Chittagong on Monday. .
At least 67 people were killed along the 250-mile coast, where tidal surges six feet high swamped islands and flooded farms, The Associated Press reported. Initial reports had said that more than 350 people perished. Most of the fatalities were in Chittagong, Bangladesh's second largest city. .
Casualty and damage reports remain incomplete. Action by Churches Together (ACT) has received a report that as many as 500 may have died. .
Whatever the final casualty figure, mitigation efforts appear to have saved countless lives. At least a half-million people fled their mud and thatch homes for safety in shelters built after a 1991 storm that killed some 139,000 people.
