WHAT IS AILA ?
A cyclone that tore into southern Bangladesh and eastern India on Wednesday has killed at least 191 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, according to relief workers and news agencies.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers reached rural villages cut off by flood waters.
The Food and Disaster Management Ministry said Cyclone Aila had killed 113 people in Bangladesh, and a government official in West Bengal state in India put the number of dead at 78, some of whom had been killed overnight by mudslides. In India alone, about 2.3 million people were affected or stranded in flooded villages, The Associated Press reported.
Storm surges in coastal areas of Bangladesh were particularly deadly, disaster officials said, as nearly half a million people sought refuge in temporary shelters. Fishing boats also were damaged and vast areas of rice paddies and cropland were flooded with salty seawater.
Nijhum Dwip, a low-lying coastal island with 25,000 residents, was reportedly submerged.
“We’re quite worried about this island, because reports are coming in that houses and fields have been totally washed away,” said Nick Southern, the Bangladesh country director for the aid agency Care. “We are trying to get there today by boat, but the cyclone has made travel almost impossible.”
In India, video reports from the city of Calcutta showed snapped power lines, uprooted trees and roofs being torn from houses and commercial buildings. The heavy rains also caused massive mudslides in the Darjeeling tea district, where more than 20 people had died, the A.P. reported.
The cyclone also lashed the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the India-Bangladesh border. The area is an important home to the Royal Bengal tiger, and The A.P. reported that at least one tiger retreated from the rising waters into a home. Game wardens tranquilized the tiger and planned to release it after the flooding subsided.
The same area was struck in 2007 by Cyclone Sidr. More than 3,500 people died in that storm and 2 million more were displaced.
Cyclone Aila (RSMC Designation: BOB02, JTWC Designation: 02B, also known as Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila) was the second tropical cyclone to form within the Northern Indian Ocean during 2009. The disturbance that was to become Cyclone Aila formed on 21 May 2009 about 950 kilometers (590 mi) to the south of Kolkata, in India. Over the next couple of days the disturbance slowly developed before a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center early on 23 May 2009 and being designated as a depression by RSMC New Delhi. As of 27 May 2009 (2009 -05-27)[update], 330 people have been killed by Aila and at least 8,208 more are missing, while about 1 million are homeless.
Torrential rains from Aila resulted in at least 179 fatalities from flooding.[25][41] More than 400,000 people were reportedly isolated by severe flooding in coastal regions of Bangladesh. Numerous villages were either completely submerged in floodwaters or destroyed.[10] Dozens of people are reportedly missing throughout the country.[42] A storm surge of 3 m (10 ft) impacted western regions of Bangladesh, submerging numerous villages. Several rivers broke through embankments, causing widespread inland flooding. In one region alone, more than 50,000 people were left homeless. Despite warnings to remain at port, numerous fishing vessels sailed into the storm. Port officials stated that more than 500 fishermen had gone missing since the storm made landfall.[43] In Patuakhali, a dam broke and submerged five villages. Numerous homes were destroyed by the subsequent flooding and tens of thousands of people were left stranded in the villages. In Chandpur, two pontoons sank while docked in port.[44] At least 800 people were injured by the storm and 2.6 million were affected. Unofficial reports indicate that the death toll in the country has reached 121; however, the Bangladeshi government denied this claim. An estimated 58,950 animals were killed by the storm with up to 50,000 deer missing. On the island of Nizum Dwip, nearly all structures on the island were severely damaged or destroyed, leaving roughly 20,000 people homeless.[45] Throughout the country, Aila left an estimated 500,000 people homeless.[46] Later press reports stated that more than 6,600 people were injured by the storm and 3.3 million were affected.[47] Later reports indicated that only 10 people were missing due to the storm, with the publisher of an earlier source stating that the statement of over 1,000 people missing was a typing mistake. Damages to water embankments throughout the country was estimated at Tk. 1 billion (US$14.4 million).[48]
The word "Aila" means :
The name Aila is a baby girl name. The baby name Aila originated as an Scottish name. In Scottish the name Aila means- from the strong place.
State of Sunderbans:
The Sunderbans, a region which houses 265 of the endangered Bengal Tigers, was inundated with 6.1 m (20 ft) of water. Dozens of the tigers are feared to have drowned in Aila's storm surge along with deers and crocodiles. As of 27 May 2009 (2009 -05-27)[update], one tiger has been found alive; it was found in a waterlogged cowshed following the cyclone's landfall. Additionally the forest remains under an estimated 2.4 m (7.9 ft) of water.[49] On 27 May, conservationists have begun a search for the tigers throughout the forest. The search teams were supplied with fresh drinking water for the tigers as their natural water source was inundated with salt water from Aila's storm surge.
