More than 100 million people affected as tropical storm Fani makes landfall

Spectrum Website
1

SILVER SPRING, MD (May 1, 2019) – Tropical storm Fani, (pronounced “foe-nee”) a severe cyclonic storm formed in the Bay of Bengal with wind gusts of up to 127 mph, is heading to the eastern coast of India and looks to gain strength as it’s forecasted to also move toward Bangladesh by Saturday.

“ADRA is monitoring and preparing for Cyclone Fani, which has intensified and is expected to make landfall at Odisha state in India,” says Mario Oliveira, emergency management director for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. “ADRA in India is expected to arrive in Bhubaneshwar on May 2. While there, we’ll be working closely with local authorities to assess damages and needs, once the storm passes.”

The storm could affect local areas, including Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Barguna, Chittagon, and Cox’s Bazar.

Oliveira says that storms regularly hit eastern and southeastern India between April and December. Reportedly, Cyclone Titli was the most recent storm to hit India in 2017 where more than 200 people were killed in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala states. The worst-ever cyclone occurred in 1999 that killed more than 8,000 people.

“ADRA responded to Cyclone Titli last year in the Kerala state, and we are ready to respond to Cyclone Fani,” Oliveira says.

Local authorities in the areas of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Est Bengal, India are taking necessary precautions to alert residents of the impending storm, which is predicted to cause heavy rainfall, strong winds and a storm surge.

Already, the state minister for Bangladesh has asked that schools, colleges, and other educational institutions be used as temporary means of shelter, according to news reports. Over 850 shelters in the state are being made available to accommodate around one million people.

“Cyclone Fani will have an impact because the storm will be going through Bangladesh, a high density populated region,” Oliveira says.

More information will be provided as it is made available.

This article was written by Kimi-Roux James and originally appeared on the ADRA website.

Image appeared on the ADRA website, courtesy of The Weather Channel.

We invite you to join our community through conversation by commenting below. We ask that you engage in courteous and respectful discourse. You can view our full commenting policy by clicking here.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://spectrummagazine.org/node/9595
2

Millions of Indians, already living in shanty towns and abysmal poverty conditions, now face further devastation.

Mankind is still mired in MISERY two millennia after Christ declared IT IS FINISHED on Calvary’s cross.

And God who could end all this chaos and carnage, in a heartbeat, by fast forwarding the SECOND COMING callously chooses not to do so.

3

In 1987 I did 6mos. Volunteer work at the SDA dental clinic in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was one of the worlds poorest countries and in the hundred thousands would die of dysentery due to health practices and flooding a year.
Many Christian organizations including ADRA attempted to help health practices and water cleaness in this Muslim country. I was in Gulshan where the US Embassy was. 100 yards out of town people lived as they have for a thousand years.
You see this and it made me thankful for the light of the blessings of God in instructing mankind in science, government and the Judeo-Christian faiths, in my opinion.
God is good even in our fallen world. Consequences, however, follow ignorance and bad socio-political-economic religious practices.

1 Like
4

Must have rubbed shoulders there with David L. Johnson. He shared similar observations during his 25 year stay.

5

Dave was there. He wasnt at the clinic at that time and I was asked to go and help by Eldon Carmen who was in charge of church professional dental placement. I ate a few times with Dave at the American club. He did a good job of training workers at the clinic including a couple “PA Dentist” which is not done in US but is useful/practical in a place like Bangladesh. I was in a car with him on the way home from church. We had an accident and I got banged up a bit with a few stitches. Someone died in the other vehicle. So eventually he came back to US?

6

David was there from 1977 to 2002. Now resides in Michigan, about 30min SE of Andrews.

7

If you see him tell him I said hello. He did good work in dentistry there and developing their clinic in Gulshan.

1 Like
8

This topic was automatically closed after 30 days. New replies are no longer allowed.