Why relatively fewer people died? The case of Bangladesh’s Cyclone Sidr

Cyclone Sidr, a Category IV storm, struck the southwestern coast of Bangladesh on November 15, 2007 killing 3,406 people. Despite a similar magnitude, Sidr claimed far fewer lives than Cyclone Gorky, also a Category IV storm, which struck Bangladesh in 1991 causing an estimated 140,000 fatalities. The relatively low number of deaths experienced with Sidr is widely considered the result of Bangladesh government’s efforts to provide timely cyclone forecasting and early warnings, and successful evacuation of coastal residents from the projected path of Cyclone Sidr. Using information collected from both primary and secondary sources, this study identified several other reasons for the unexpectedly lower mortality associated with Cyclone Sidr relative to Cyclone Gorky. Fewer casualties may be attributed to a number of physical characteristics of Cyclone Sidr, such as duration of the storm and storm surge, landfall time and site, varied coastal ecology, and coastal embankment. This article recommends improvements to the cyclone warning systems, establishment of more public cyclone shelters, and implementation of an education campaign in coastal areas to increase the utilization of public shelters for future cyclone events.     

Bangladeshi American Response to the 1998 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): An Assessment*

Following the devastating flood in 1998, the U.S. government proposed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to the Bangladesh government. Accepting the 1998 SOFA would have allowed entry of U.S. troops in Bangladesh without passports or visas and without requiring declaration of military hardware. This would have facilitated American forces support for relief operations and rehabilitation of disaster victims in the shortest possible time. Unfortunately, the Bangladesh government rejected the U.S. terms outlined in the 1998 proposal. A sample survey was conducted among Bangladeshi Americans to examine their opinions regarding the 1998 SOFA. Survey data reveals that slightly over 58 percent of the respondents supported signing the SOFA. Reasons for their support or opposition to the U.S. proposal are also presented. Statistical analyses suggest that whether respondents have studied or are currently studying in the United States emerged as the most significant factor associated with approval or disapproval of the 1998 SOFA. Implications of the study findings are also discussed.     

Coping mechanisms practised by drought victims (1994/5) in North Bengal, Bangladesh

Droughts are recurrent features in Bangladesh, affecting plant growth and leading to loss of crop production, food shortages and, for many people, starvation. The main objective of this study is to examine the means by which residents of a drought-affected area of Bangladesh cope with this hazard. Data were collected during the summer of 1995 from 301 drought-affected households located in northwestern Bangladesh. Analysis suggests that respondent households practised an array of adjustments to mitigate adverse effects of the 1994/5 drought. While both high- and low-income households were affected by the drought, households belonging to the lower socioeconomic group suffered the most, receiving the least support from the national government. Government responses were delayed and inadequate in providing financial and other assistance to the drought victims. It is suggested that the government should be prepared for drought long before the occurrence of such an event.     

Post-Cyclone Sidr illness patterns in coastal Bangladesh: an empirical study

After the landfall of Cyclone Sidr along the southwestern coast of Bangladesh on November 15, 2007, emergency and public health personnel within and beyond Bangladesh anticipated a massive outbreak of water-borne and other diseases in most affected areas. Fortunately, such an outbreak did not occur. The objectives of this paper are to examine the extent and pattern of illnesses experienced by Cyclone Sidr survivors in the aftermath of its landfall and to investigate household and individual-level factors associated with such illnesses. Based on face-to-face interviews conducted among 277 randomly selected Sidr survivors living in the four most severely impacted coastal districts, this study found that the post-cyclone incidence of water-borne, respiratory, and other diseases was not unusually high. Only 52 persons suffered Sidr-related illnesses, and their illnesses were significantly associated with household income, and gender and age of the Sidr survivors. A major outbreak of such diseases was largely avoided because of the proper distribution of food and safe drinking water, as well as the timely implementation of health care intervention measures. This important finding will aid relevant authorities in successfully responding to outbreaks of diseases following a future extreme event in Bangladesh and perhaps elsewhere.     

Analytic hierarchy process and information value method-based landslide susceptibility mapping and vehicle vulnerability assessment along a highway in Sikkim Himalaya

In hilly areas, highway projects can be a cause of landslides as well as an element of vulnerability due to landslides. Hence, landslide susceptibility mapping of highway corridors can substantially mitigate loss of life and property. For this, a Landslide Susceptibility Assessment Model (LSAM) was developed for a corridor of 27 km along NH 10 in the East Sikkim. Landslide inducing factors viz. Aspect, Distance from Fault, Distance from Road, Drainage Density, Land use and Land cover, Lithology, Plan Curvature, Rainfall, Slope, Soil Depth, and Soil Texture were considered for the study. Results show that areas in proximity to the highway and areas with steeper slope had a higher landslide susceptibility than otherwise. Spatial explicit sensitivity analysis indicated that LSAM was sensitive to distance from the highway and slope. Vehicle vulnerability assessment of base year and horizon years showed that vulnerability increased through time. LSAM is appropriate for hazard mitigation for areas with poor historical data on landslides.     

Dark energy models with anisotropic fluid in Bianchi Type-VI 0 space-time with time dependent deceleration parameter

We present two dark energy (DE) models with an anisotropic fluid in Bianchi type-VI ₀ space-time by considering time dependent deceleration parameter (DP). The equation of state (EoS) for dark energy ω is found to be time dependent and its existing range for derived models is in good agreement with the recent observations. Under the suitable condition, the anisotropic models approach to isotropic scenario. We also find that during the evolution of the universe, the EoS parameter for DE changes from ω>−1 to ω=−1 in first model whereas from ω>−1 to ω<−1 in second model which is consistent with recent observations. The cosmological constant Λ is found to be a positive decreasing function of time and it approaches a small positive value at late time (i.e. the present epoch) which is corroborated by results from recent type Ia supernovae observations. The cosmic jerk parameter in our derived models is also found to be in good agreement with the recent data of astrophysical observations. The physical and geometric aspects of both the models are also discussed in detail.     

Metal Impregnated Silica‐Carbon Materials from Rice Husk: A Versatile Sorbent for Toxic Organics and Inorganics in Water and Air

Carbon bearing materials derived from rice husk (RH) have long been recognized as sorbents for diverse chemicals – both organic and inorganic. This work presents an overview of studies demonstrating a single step process of carbonization of chemically pretreated RH to produce metal impregnated silica‐carbon char designated as silicarbon materials that can be utilized in sorbing out water‐borne organic and inorganic hazardous substances (such as phenol, hexavalent chromium, fluoride, and arsenic) and air‐borne volatile organic chemicals (such as acetone, chloroform, benzene, and pyridine). The metal‐impregnated silicarbon solids derived from RH appear to constitute renewable, low‐cost, user‐friendly, and efficient materials for control systems for indoor air contamination and for industrial as well as non‐industrial hazardous aqueous pollution.     

Ground-motion predictions in Shillong region, northeast India

We deliver ground-motion prediction equations for Shillong region, northeast India, based on a database generated by finite-fault stochastic simulations. An examination of the regional seismic source characteristics is carried out beforehand. Micro/minor earthquakes (M _W?<?5.0) nucleating at hypocentral depth <21?km in the region recorded at broadband seismic stations are observed to have Brune stress-drop ranging between 2.8 and 99.9?bars. Likewise, macroseismic intensity data for the 1897 Shillong Earthquake that nucleated at a hypocentral depth of ~35?km places the associated stress-drop at 100?200?bars. The apparent variation of the stress-drop parameter with depth is considered with two source zones namely lower-crust and upper-crust. Equations for the lower-crust predict higher ground-motion levels and exhibit affinity to those developed for stable continental region of Eastern North America. The ground-motion levels predicted by the equations for the upper-crust are relatively lower but are still higher compared with those predicted for tectonically active regions, viz., the Himalayas and Western North America.