Cyclone Amphan
To give this powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone its full name, super cyclonic storm Amphan wreaked havoc in West Bengal and Odisha back in May. If it’s name wasn’t a reminder of how powerful cyclones can be, it was also termed an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” as it made landfall in both the states with extremely heavy rains and lightning, destroying everything in its path.
This was the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean and the first cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, peaking with 3-minute sustained wind speeds of 240 km/h (150 mph) in its 5 day rampage. The area would be left devastated as Cyclone Amphan caused around $13 billion of damage and sadly took the lives of 128 people.
