Bangladesh: Cyclone Sidr - timeline
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Timeline
- August 2007. Flooding caused by monsoon rains, which in some areas is described as the worst in living memory, affects around 30 million people in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal.
- June 2007. Cyclone Gonu strikes the easternmost tip of Oman and reportedly becomes the strongest tropical cyclone ever known to have hit the Arabian peninsula.
- June 2007. The south-western Pakistani province of Baluchistan is struck by cyclone Yemyin, causing severe damage in coastal and inland areas and killing least 20 people in Quetta (the provincial capital).
- September 2005. It is reported that 85 Bangladeshi fishermen are still missing, but at least 9,000 have reported home, five days after a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal.
- March 2005. Around 80 people are thought to have died when tornadoes and tropical storms hit northern, western, and southern districts of Bangladesh.
- December 2004. Bangladesh escapes serious destruction when an earthquake registering at magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale, occurs and unleashes a series of massive tsunamis (tidal waves), which within hours cause devastation and massive loss of life in 12 countries around the rim of the Indian Ocean.
- September 2004. The authorities close all government offices in Dhaka (the capital), with the city suffering what is said to be its worst floods for decades; 341 mm of rain falls on Dhaka on Sept. 13, the highest recorded rainfall in 50 years.
- August 2004. It is reported that severe flooding from monsoon rains, which since June had affected some two thirds of the country, has caused some US$7 billion of economic damage to agricultural and industrial production.
- July 2004. Bangladesh is in the grip of what is said to be its worst flooding disaster since 1998, with about two thirds of the country left inundated after exceptionally heavy monsoon rains.
- July 2002. It is reported that 74 people have died in Bangladesh and that four million have been made homeless by heavy monsoon rains bursting the banks of the rivers Padma, Jamuna, and Teesta.
- July 1998. The most prolonged monsoon floods on record strike Bangladesh, killing around 1,500 people, leaving 23 million others homeless, and destroying more than 800,000 hectares of farmland.
- May 1997. According to official figures, 112 people are killed when a cyclone strikes the coast of Bangladesh.
- September 1991. Low voter turnout in a national referendum, over the question of restoring a parliamentary form of government in Bangladesh, is attributed to heavy rain and widespread flooding.
- April 1991. Nearly 139,000 people are killed and thousands more are threatened by epidemics, after a devastating cyclone strikes Bangladesh.
- August 1988. The worst monsoon floods on record strike Bangladesh, causing widespread loss of life and extensive damage to the country's economy and infrastructure.
- July 1998. Heavy flooding kills at least 125 people and leaves up to 8 million people homeless.
- August 1987. Bangladesh suffers the worst monsoon floods in 40 years, causing widespread loss of life and crops and devastation to the country's infrastructure.
- May 1985. At least 11,000 people are killed and 250,000 others are left homeless after a cyclone and tidal waves strike south-east Bangladesh.
- July/August 1974. Floods devastate a large area of Bangladesh, resulting in a cholera epidemic, widespread damage to crops, and a disastrous famine in which thousands of people die.
- November 1973. In Bangladesh’s first five-year-plan, priority is given to agriculture, rural development, and flood control measures.
- November 1972. The Bangladesh constituent assembly approves the country’s constitution, which comes into effect in December.
- April 1972. Bangladesh is officially admitted as a member of the Commonwealth.
- December 1971. The Indian government officially recognises Bangladesh as an independent state.
- December 1971. Pakistani armed forces fighting in the Indo-Pakistani war surrender, effectively granting the Pakistani province of East Pakistan de facto independence as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
- November 1970. In the worst disaster of its kind, and one of the worst in modern times, at least 200,000 people are killed in the coastal region of East Pakistan when the densely populated Ganges Delta is swept by a cyclone and tidal wave.
- May 1965. Nearly 16,000 people are killed by a cyclone and tidal waves, which struck the Bay of Bengal in East Pakistan.
- May 1963. A coastal strip of East Pakistan is devastated by a cyclone and huge tidal waves, causing the deaths of 11,942 lives and leaving over 300,000 people homeless.
- February 1961. It is confirmed that 14,174 died in the cyclone disasters which struck the Bay of Bengal in October 1960.
- October 1960. Two cyclones sweep across the Bay of Bengal, over the coastal districts of East Pakistan and their offshore islands, causing great devastation and about 18,000 deaths.
- March 1955. The Pakistani province of East Bengal is renamed East Pakistan.
- August 1947. As India prepares for independence from UK rule, the Indian province of Bengal is partitioned, with East Bengal becoming part of Pakistan, whilst West Bengal remains part of India.
- October 1942. A cyclone sweeps over the Indian provinces of West Bengal and East Orissa, killing an estimated 11,000 people.
