Deadly Cyclone Aila Dissipates After a Landfall in Eastern India - NASA report

Cyclone Aila formed in the Bay of Bengal on May 24 and made a quick landfall the next day in eastern India. The storm killed up to 120 people in eastern India and neighboring Bangladesh combined. Aila has now dissipated inland over eastern India.

Cyclone 02B, later named Aila when it became a tropical storm, formed in the early morning hours of May 24 about 240 miles south of Kolkata, India. Aila strengthened quickly into a tropical storm later that day, then made landfall near Calcutta, India on Sunday, May 25 at 0900 Zulu Time (5 a.m. EDT) as a Category One Cyclone. It had sustained winds near 65 knots (74 mph) at the time of landfall. The threshold for a Category One Cyclone (or hurricane) starts at 74 mph and goes to 95 mph. Aila has since dissipated inland over eastern India.

According to a Reuters news report, Bangladesh's Daily Star newspaper reported at least 89 deaths as the search continues for others there. Meanwhile, 29 people were reported dead in the West Bengal State of eastern India. Aila's heavy rains caused agricultural damage to rice crops that were about to be harvested. The rains also raised river levels and broke through mud embankments. Winds downed trees, power lines and even collapsed houses. Hundreds of thousands of people fled into shelters.

The last warning from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center was issued on May 25 at 0900 Zulu Time (5 a.m. EDT), when Aila had sustained winds near 40 knots (46 mph). At that time, the center of circulation was located about 105 miles north-northwest of Kolkata, India, near 24.2 north and 88.5 east.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of cyclone Aila at 2:13 a.m. EDT (7:13 Zulu Time) on Monday, May 26, 2009. The storm was already dissipating at that time, and this image confirmed that, because the storm wasn't circular anymore.