Apocalypse and the tropical cyclones

Is it the end of the world already? Will human life remain on earth in the coming years? Or is it too soon to say that? Is there more meaning left to human life! People are dying all over the world. Some due to the pandemic while others due to hunger. Some due to suicide while others due to natural calamities. Some due to murders and others due to mishaps. News of a dead pregnant female elephant was surfacing all over the internet and it is very well visible that there is a whole different war going on right now. There is no humanity left anymore. The year 2020 has turned out to be the year of survival as quoted by many billionaires, be it Ratan Tata Or Jack Ma, everyone is wondered by the present scenario.

But other than the man-made consequences what's different this year?

Well, no doubt but nature seems to be quite unhappy with humans at this point of time. Starting from the news of forest fires to other natural disasters like earthquakes have been hitting hard the earth surface. There was news of asteroids too. Cyclones have also been common this whole year. Unfortunate news has consumed most of the year.

Some light on recent casualties

There have been several casualties throughout the year but what took everyone's attention other than the COVID pandemic was the deadly cyclone. On 20 May 2020, a massive tropical cyclone called Amphan hit West Bengal, India. The cyclone was predicted well in advance and more than 6.5 lakh people were evacuated from West Bengal and Odisha before the cyclone struck at 2:30 p.m. making a landfall. However, despite all the measures taken in the coastal areas, thousands of people lost their homes.

Measures taken by the government

According to the chief minister of Bengal, Mamta Banerjee, more than three lakh people from three coastal districts were moved to a safer place. All necessary steps were taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of cyclone Amphan. The coastal areas were put on high alerts and all the fisheries activities were stopped before the cyclone. A senior government official also reported about the dispatching of relief materials, dry food and tarpaulin in the coastal areas. Departments of disaster management, State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sent their teams to the vulnerable areas. People residing in the mud areas were asked to be extra careful.

The aftermath of cyclone Amphan

The super cyclone that hit eastern India and Bangladesh in more than a decade affected certain parts of Odisha as well as Kolkata. Hooghly, Howrah, East Midnapur, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal are some of the affected areas. Significant destruction in Bangladesh has been also reported. The super cyclone raged for hours with the highest wind speed of 260 km/h and destroyed thousands of acres of crops. Trees Uprooted, roofs gone, roads blocked, and more than 88 lives lost. Floods due to cyclone also devasted the state and millions were left with hampered electricity. Not only this, people even lost life due to falling of electric poles and trees. Other than human life, the livestock and cattle were also heavily affected by the turmoil of the super cyclone. The dark clouds and heavy rain brought a sad morning in millions of lives. People woke up to a view they don't usually get to see.

People were seen on the roads, trying their best to collect pieces of the leftovers, and fixing them again. Rescue operations were going on the very next morning. Policemen were also there to look around the problems people were facing such as lack of drinking water and no electricity.

Two days after the deadly cyclone, On 22 May 2020 prime minister Narendra Modi went for a joint aerial survey with Mamta Banerjee in Kolkata. An immediate relief package for West Bengal and Odisha of ₹10 billion and ₹5 billion respectively was announced by Modi. Modi announced that ₹200,000 would be provided to the family of people who died during the storm, and ₹50,000 would be given to each injured person. Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister of Odisha also conducted an aerial survey of the damages caused by Amphan cyclone in the state of Odisha.

Electricity supply has been restored and many areas are back to normal but the people who lost their homes and loved ones are going through a hard time altogether.

Other than Amphan cyclone, we have seen another cyclone that struck Maharashtra recently. Severe cyclone Nisarga started as a deep depression in the Arabian sea. The severe cyclonic storm is the second tropical cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season to hit the Indian subcontinent in a span of two weeks, after Cyclone Amphan, the first super cyclonic storm to occur in the Bay of Bengal in the 21st century. Nisarga is the first severe cyclone since 1891 to hit Mumbai. Nisarga itself means Nature. Although nisarga cyclone was not that strong as compared to the Amphan cyclone in intensity, Meteorologists suggests that it will be the start of many more cyclones in future.

What does the Julian calendar have to say?

So how many of you remember the Mayan calendar theory? Yes, The one which prophesied the end of the world on 21st December 2012. According to some conspiracy theorists on social media, a new theory is doing rounds. A number of users on social media are posting that the year 2020 would be the final year witnessed by life on earth. Although no verified theory has been made until now, some claims following the Julian calendar have been made. In a tweet, scientist Palo reportedly said, "Following the Julian Calendar, we are technically in 2012. The number of days lost in a year due to the shift into Gregorian Calendar is 11 days. For 268 years using the Gregorian Calendar (1752-2020) times 11 days = 2,948 days. 2,948 days / 365 days (per year) = 8 years”. The actual doomsday is said to be June 21, 2020. Although the news has been rubbished by Dubai astronomy group CEO. But is it possible that the entire world can be destroyed in a day? We can only wind up this question by saying that every beautiful thing comes to an end one day. What has been made will also be destroyed someday. So, there’s no doubt that life on earth will also come to an end and maybe the day is not far.

~ By akansha singhal for Young Engine