The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The cyclone in 1991, which came roaring out of the Bay of Bengal, was most powerful than that of this year's.

The '91 cyclone had hit the southern shores of the country at a peak speed of 225 kilometres per hour (kmph) and the latest SIDR, which ravaged the coastline on Thursday night, struck at a core speed of 223 kmph, met office records showed.

Another lethal cyclone, which devastated the southern coastline, was born on the same day of November 12, 1970, at the same place in the southeast Bay off the south Andaman sea and carried the peak wind speed of 224 kmph when it made the landfall.

It was both an act of providence and a natural barrier of the Sundarbans, which saved the country from much more devastations if the SIDR had followed the traditional route of the cyclones from the Bay, Samarendra Karmaker, director of the met office told BSS.

He said the cyclones with the potent destructive powers of hurricane winds at core are generally born at the southeast Bay off the Andaman Sea between October till mid December. Another season begins from March till May. They follow the funnel shaped Meghna estuary to enter the country and unleash their fury.

But this time, the SIDR made the landfall on the southwestern shore off Bagerhat at the fringe of the Sundarbans, hammering its way down the Baleswar river and turning northeast. It allowed the southeastern shore of Chittagong and its adjoining areas to survive from its lethal punch.