Phailin: like disaster looming large

The year 2013 is likely to be among the top 10 warmest on record, 

according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Warsaw, Poland: Thousands of delegates 
from nations and environment organizations 
from around the world have opened two 
weeks of United Nations climate talks 
meant to lay groundwork for a new pact 
to fight global warming.

With the UN Climate Conference entering a crucial phase, top environment diplomats have warned that global warming represents a potentially irreversible threat and sought urgent international action.

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phailin (Thai: ไพลิน meaning "sapphire") was a powerful tropical cyclone that caused substantial damage in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, India, in early October 2013. It was the most intense cyclone that crossed Indian coast after the 1999 Odisha cyclone.

Cyclone Phailin is expected to be the biggest storm in the region for 14 years/pic NASA

During the next day Phailin intensified rapidly and became a very severe cyclonic storm on October 10, equivalent to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS). On October 11, the system became equivalent to a category 5 hurricane on the SSHWS before it started to weaken during the next day as it approached the Indian state of Odisha. It made landfall later that day, near Gopalpur in Odisha coast at around 2130 IST (1600 UTC). It subsequently weakened over land as a result of frictional forces, before it was last noted on October 14, as it degenerated into a well marked area of low pressure.

satellite image courtesy:http://www.imd.gov.in

Google created a special help-line page with update information and current position of the Phailin cyclone movement and intensity, by their Crisis Response Team.

Early on October 12, the system started to weaken as it underwent a second eye-wall replacement cycle, before Phailin's eye started rapidly to deteriorate as it moved towards the Indian coast. The system subsequently made landfall later that day near Gopalpur in Odisha, between 20:30 – 21:30 IST (15:00 – 16:00 UTC) as a very severe cyclonic storm. After the system made landfall, the JTWC issued their final advisory on Phailin, before during the next day the IMD reported that the system had weakened into a cyclonic storm.

Cyclone Phailin: Mass evacuations in eastern India: As many as 500,000 people in India have been evacuated as a massive cyclone sweeps through the Bay of Bengal towards the east coast.

Locals have been shutting up businesses and taking cover as the cyclone approaches/pic AFP

 

India's cyclone Phailin leaves trail of destruction.

India was hammered by powerful Cyclone Phailin over the weekend, forcing nearly a million people to evacuate from their homes near the coast. Though at least 25 people have been reported killed from the storm, it hit the same coast as a 1999 cyclone that killed 10,000 -- a testament to the lives saved from a mass evacuation.

Indians began clearing roads and assessing the damage done by Cyclone Phailin/pic Reuters

Some of those evacuated ahead of the cyclone were returning home/pic AFP

Indian fishermen try to pull up an overturned boat from the flooded water of Cyclone Phailin, in Gopalpur, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

An Indian woman returns to the cyclone hit Arjipalli village on the Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district, Orissa state, India, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Biswaranjan Rout)

Displaced villagers carry their belongings as they return to Sonepur village in Gopalpur on October 13, 2013 after cyclone Phailin passed through. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

A villager tends to her sleeping child resting on the damaged roof of a beachside hut after Cyclone Phailin made landfall at Padampeta Village, about 200 kilometers south from the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar, on October 13, 2013. (ASIT KUMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

thankfully shared from:

http://www.google.com 

http://www.imd.gov.in 

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/photos-tropical-cyclone-phailin-20131012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24487130

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24510464

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Phailin

http://www.firstpost.com/living/2013-one-of-warmest-years-on-record-says-united-nations-1229705.html
http://www.firstpost.com/world/time-to-go-the-extra-mile-says-un-climate-chief-at-cop-19-1223147.html