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The Effect of the Nargis Cyclone in Myanmar
1. Jirapat Sakudomchai
5610545978
2. Supanat Sornmayura
5610546052
3. Mookrawee Rattanawiboon
5610545374
4. Panich Nimpanich
5610546010
5. Jidapa Talaupala
5610545960
6. Burintas Suttidet
5610545277
7. Pongtawat Hunwattanawong
5710546976
8. Chalee Bunaoom
5710546925
01999141 Man& Society
International Undergraduate Program
Kasetsart University
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Preface
This production has prepare a report on The Effect of the Nargis Cyclone in Myanmar in
2011.We choose this topic because this disaster is the most epic cyclone that happened Myanmar
around 12 years. This report will shows the the Effect of the Nargis Cyclone that happened to
Myanmar. The production hopes the report is useful for learning.
If there is any mistake in this report , please accept our apology at this stage.
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Table of contents
page
 What is the strom?
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 Tropical cyclone or cyclone.
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What's the difference?
 How the Cyclone Nargis come from?
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 Effected to Nature
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 Effected to population
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 Effected to Shelter
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What is the strom?
A storm is any disturbed state of an environment or astronomical body's atmosphere
especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather. It may be marked by significant
disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm),
heavy precipitation (snowstorm, rainstorm), heavy freezing rain (ice storm), strong winds (tropical
cyclone, windstorm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere as in a dust storm,
blizzard, sandstorm, etc.
Storms generally lead to negative impacts on lives and property such as storm surge, heavy
rain or snow (causing flooding or road impassibility), lightning, wildfires, and vertical wind shear;
however, systems with significant rainfall can alleviate drought in places they move through. Heavy
snowfall can allow special recreational activities to take place which would not be possible otherwise,
such as skiing and snowmobiling.
Storms are created when a center of low pressure develops with a system of high pressure
surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of
storm clouds, such as the cumulonimbus. Small localized areas of low pressure can form from hot air
rising off hot ground, resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds.There are
many varieties and names for storms for example:
Hailstorm / Blizzard / Snowstorm / Ocean Storm / Tropical cyclone / Tornado
- http://cdni.wired.co.uk/1240x826/s_v/S
torm-2--Wired-19sep13_REX_MarkoKorosec_b_1240x826.jpg
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm
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Tropical cyclone or cyclone. What's the difference?
Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are all the same weather phenomenon; we just use
different names for these storms in different places. In the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, the term
“hurricane” is used. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a “typhoon” and
“cyclones” occur in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The ingredients for these storms include a pre-existing weather disturbance, warm tropical
oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds. If the right conditions persist long enough, they can
combine to produce the violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains, and floods we associate with
this phenomenon.
In the Atlantic, hurricane season officially runs June 1 to November 30. However, while 97
percent of tropical activity occurs during this time period, there is nothing magical in these dates, and
hurricanes have occurred outside of these six months.
A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized
system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed,
low-level circulation. Once a tropical cyclone reaches maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour
or higher, it is then classified as a hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone depending upon where the storm
originates in the world.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/cyclone.html
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How the Cyclone Nargis come from?
In the last week of April 2008, an area of deep convection persisted near a low-level
circulation in the Bay of Bengal. With good outflow and low wind shear, the system slowly organized
as its circulation consolidated. On 27 April, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) classified the
system as a depression, and nine hours later the system intensified into a deep depression. At the same
time, the Typhoon Warning Center classified it as Tropical Cyclone 01B. With a ridge to its north, the
system tracked slowly north-northwestward as banding features improved. At 5:30 AM Indian
Standard Time, on 28 April, Tropical Cyclone 01B upgraded the system to Cyclonic Storm Nargis .
A once-in-500-year event for Myanmar?
Tropical cyclones are uncommon in
Myanmar, which has had only six Category
1 or stronger storms since 1970, and eleven
since 1948. Nargis is the third strongest
cyclone on record to hit Myanmar, and the
deadliest and most damaging. The previous
highest death toll from a tropical cyclone in
Myanmar was 187, during the Category 1
storm that hit on May 7, 1975. Nargis is the
first major tropical cyclone to hit Myanmar since Category 3 Cyclone Mala hit on April 28, 2006.
Mala hit a less populated area less prone to storm surge, and killed 22 people and damaged 6000
buildings. It is remarkable that no other tropical cyclone over the past 300 years has hit the Irrawaddy
Delta and caused major loss of life. An unusually strong and far-southward extending trough of low
pressure turned Nargis to the east much farther south than is the norm for the North Indian Ocean. In
the pre-1970 years, there is only one hurricane-force storm recorded to have hit Burma, a Category 1
cyclone in 1936 that killed 36 people. A significant cyclone hitting the Irrawaddy Delta causing
thousands of deaths would very likely have been recorded, had this happened any time in the past 300
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years. Such events were recorded in both India and Bangladesh during that period. Nargis appears to
have been the only major tropical cyclone to hit the Irrawaddy River Delta in recorded history, and
may be a once-in-500-year event.
Picture. Visible satellite image of Nargis shortly before landfall. Image credit:NASA.
http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Cyclone2008Burma.html
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Effected to Nature
1 Impact on natural resources and biodiversity
The loss and damage of mangrove forests as a result of Nargis is particularly critical, which
affected about 16,800 ha (41,514 acres) of natural forest and 21,000 ha (51,892 acres) of forest
plantations.1 Surveys by Maung Maung Thanindicated significant destruction of mangroves in the
direct path of the cyclone and in adjacent areas. Defoliation and damage to branches ranged from 38.9
to 55.6 percent and damage to crowns was between 12.8 and 19.8 percent. Uprooting of trees was
notably higher in the direct path of the storm (56.7 percent) than elsewhere (4.2 percent)
In addition, the author carried out surveys of mangrove plantations consisting of six to nine
year old trees to examine how different mangrove species were affected by the cyclone. His
conclusion was that three mangrove species – Rhizophora apiculata, Sonneratia apetala and Avicennia
officinalis – were more susceptible to storm damage than three others – Bruguiera sexangula,
Avicennia marina and Heritieria fomes.
The loss of both natural and plantation trees has significant implications for the environment
and livelihoods in the Ayeyarwady Delta. Mangroves are an important source of subsistence and
income for local communities, particularly for landless labourers, through the collection of firewood,
production of charcoal, and the harvesting of fisheries as well as material for shelter. They also serve
as natural barriers to surges and floods and as fish breeding grounds. The maintenance of these
different values (economic, social, biodiversity conservation) is therefore critical to supporting
livelihoods, reducing disaster risks and increasing resilience through an improved ability for postdisaster recovery.
2 Impact on livelihoods and basic needs
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The environmental damage caused by Nargis in turn has had adverse effects on local
livelihoods. The storm surge resulted in salinisation of agricultural lands and increased soil erosion
and degradation, leading to production losses. Food security has therefore become a major problem
for the survivors, who have increasingly turned to subsistence fisheries, especially during the early
recovery phase. The sustainability of local fisheries is therefore a key issue.
The storm surge also contaminated groundwater sources, affecting the quality and safety of
drinking water. Salinisation of groundwater has aggravated prevailing problems in water supply due
to ingression by seawater as a result of climate change-induced rise in sea levels
In addition to affecting forest resources, Nargis caused damage to wetland and coastal
ecosystems, many of which provide important habitats for wildlife such as birds and crocodiles. For
example, the estuarine island of Meinmahla Kyun in the Ayeyarwady Delta is a reserved forest and a
wildlife sanctuary, and hosts a number of reptile species including the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus
porosus, mammals such as Panthera tigris, P. pardus, Cuon alpinus, Lutra sp and Elephasmaximus, as
well as resident and migratory birds
Learning from Cyclone Nargis – A Case Study
http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/nargis_case_study.pdf
3 Increased vulnerability to natural hazards
The devastating impacts of Cyclone Nargis on the environment and livelihood base of local
communities have increased people’s vulnerability to future natural hazards. Deforestation and forest
degradation as a result of Nargis, salinisation of groundwater and agricultural lands, and the loss of
property pose major challenges to recovery efforts. Loss of income from natural resources as well as
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building materials for shelter signify that capacities of local communities to cope with and respond to
the cyclone’s impacts are significantly compromised, which makes them more vulnerable to future
disasters.
This increased vulnerability to natural hazards is compounded by underlying risk factors
which exacerbate disaster impacts. These risks are driven by the prevailing environmental degradation
in the region. Inadequate environmental governance both at the national and sub-national levels
further contribute to poor resource management practices. In addition, climate change has the
potential to increase disaster vulnerability in the region, as a result of rising sea levels as well as
increased frequency and magnitude of natural hazards. The next section elaborates on these issues.
Learning from Cyclone Nargis – A Case Study
http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/nargis_case_study.pdf
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Effected to population
Statistical population is a set of entities concerning which statistical inferencesare to be drawn,
often based on a random sample taken from the population. For example, if we were interested in
generalizations about crows, then we would describe the set of crows that is of interest. Notice that if
we choose a population like all crows, we will be limited to observing crows that exist now or will
exist in the future. Probably, geography will also constitute a limitation in that our resources for
studying crows are also limited. Population is also used to refer to a set of potential measurements or
values, including not only cases actually observed but those that are potential observable. Suppose, for
example, we are interested in the set of all adult crows now alive in the county of Cambridgeshire,
and we want to know the mean weight of these birds. For each bird in the population of crows there is
a weight, and the set of these weights is called the population of weights.
Biological population is defined as the whole number of inhabitants occupying an area (such as
a country or the world) and continually being modified by increases (births and immigrations) and
losses (deaths and emigrations). As with any biological population, the size of a human population is
limited by the supply of food, the effect of diseases, and other environmental factors. Human
populations are further affected by social customs governing reproduction and by the technological
developments, especially in medicine and public health, that have reduced mortality and extended
the life span.
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/470303/population
http://animals.about.com/cs/zoology/a/zoo101ae.htm
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http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-refugee-anddisaster-response/research/burma_cyclone/map1hires.jpg
Topography of Myanmar, with track of Cyclone
Nargis superimposed. Image credit: NASA.
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Populations and Areas at Risk
Regions and populations vulnerable to the cyclone were estimated using Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) based models that were subsequently overlaid with spatially distributed population
data. Geographic vulnerability models were based on storm path, estimated storm surge derived from
the cyclone data, and elevation. Models included all townships within 250 kilometers of the hurricane
path, and yielded an affected area of more than 10,000 square kilometers. Spatially distributed
population data for at-risk areas from the Global Rural Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP) at CIESIN,
Columbia University, were overlaid with GIS-based vulnerability models and aggregated to estimate
the affected population. Vulnerability was approximated by a score that reflects proportion of land
area and population at risk.
Overall, an estimated 3.2 million people were affected by Cyclone Nargis, the majority of
which were in Ayeyarwady (1.8 million) and Yangon (1.1 million) administrative divisions; at least
100,000 people in both the Bago East and Mon divisions were also affected. Overall, 20 percent of the
population in the four divisions was affected by the cyclone, with Ayeyarwady Division being hardest
hit, with an estimated 36 percent of the population affected. The townships with the highest
vulnerability scores are illustrated in the map below; however, it is important to note this is a relative
measure based on proportion of land area affected. The greatest impact is anticipated in the areas
where the storm first made landfall, notably the townships of Labutta and Bogale, where over 200,000
people are thought to have been affected.
http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-forrefugee-and-disasterresponse/research/burma_cyclone/burma_cyclone.html
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http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-refugee-and-disasterresponse/research/burma_cyclone/charts.pdf
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Shelter (By an effect of Nargis)
Myanmar is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia with a total land
area of 676,578 square km (261,228 square miles) and a population of 51.5 million.
Its long coastline of about 2,000 km covers almost the entire east coast of the Bay
of Bengal. As a country prone to heavy rainfall,floods occur regularly during the
mid-monsoon period (June to August) in areas traversed by rivers or large streams.
The country is also prone to cyclones, landslides, earthquakes, tsunami, fire and
drought.
http://www.operationworld.org/files/ow/maps/lgmap/myan-MMAP-md.png
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Some information about the Cyclone Nargis.
Nargis, a category 3 cyclone, struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, making
landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division, approximately 250 km (155 miles) southwest
of Yangon. The cyclone affected more than 50 townships, mainly in Yangon and
Ayeyarwady Divisions, including Yangon, the country’s largest city and most
important commercial centre. With wind speeds of up to 200 km per hour (124
miles/hour) and accompanied by heavy rain, the cyclone caused the greatest
damage in the Ayeyarwady Delta region. The effects of extreme winds in this area
were compounded by a 3.6 m (12 foot) storm surge. Nargis was the worst natural
disaster in the history of Myanmar, and the most devastating cyclone to strike Asia
since 1991.
http://fotos.eluniversal.com.mx/web_img/fotogaleria/myan.jpg
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An effect of the Cyclone Nargis to Shelter.
http://media4.onsugar.com/files/upl1/19/193328/51_2008/81078276.jpg
Thousands of buildings were destroyed; in the town of Labutta, in the Ayeyarwady Division,
state television reported that 75 percent of buildings had collapsed and 20 percent had their roofs
ripped off. One report indicated that 95 percent of buildings in the Ayeyarwady delta area were
destroyed. The Ministry of Religious Affairs stated that 1,163 temples were destroyed in
Ayeyarwady Division and 284 in Yangon Division.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargis#Burma_controversy
http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/nargis_case_study.pdf
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