• Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night
• #Amphan is expected to make landfall on May 20
• Storm surge of up to 15 feet on anticipated landfall in West Bengal forecast Wednesday
In India and Bangladesh, millions of people are trapped in the path of an oncoming super cyclone that is expected to make landfall in under 36 hours.
Weather watchers say Super Cyclone Amphan will bring damaging winds and intense rainfall to a densely populated region badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
FOR UPDATED AMPHAN DATA:
India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences Government of India
From CNN:
Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hours), according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Amphan has weakened slightly since, but the storm is still the equivalent of a strong Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, or a super typhoon in the West Pacific, with winds speeds up to 240 kph (150 mph).
The Bay of Bengal, in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, is positioned between India to the west and northwest, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar to the east.
Amphan is just the second super cyclone to hit the Bay of Bengal since records began. During the last super cyclone in 1999, nearly 15,000 villages were affected and almost 10,000 people were killed.
India and Bangladesh brace for the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal[Ben Westcott, Vedika Sud and Manveena Suri, CNN]
