Another kind of tropical disaster

[tndefender]

Here in the US and particularly the Southeast we worry from June through September about hurricanes, but at least we don't have monsoons. India just experienced its strongest rain on record (e.g. 37 inches in Bombay).

"Home Minister Shivraj Patil told Parliament that 633 people had died and about 5.6 million people in 16,000 villages had been hit by the heavy seasonal rains that had washed away tens of thousands of homes since June 1, along with roads, railway tracks and bridges. Many had lost their homes, while others lost crops and farm animals.

"Flooding in the monsoon season in India, which runs from June to September, kills hundreds of people each year and disrupts life in wide swathes of land."

Here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8721885/

[mahicks]

37 inches???

That is unbelievable..How horrible.

We do tend to get wrapped up in our own weather as Americans don't we? Sometimes I think everyone should take a look at the bigger picture of the world.

Thank You for posting this

[beachbum_al]

37 inches of rain? Last March we got 16 inches of rain at my house and I thought that was a lot of rain. I can't even begin to picture 37 inches of rain in a short period of time. Well I can but I am trying to keep from even thinking of it. Those poor people over there.

[Sanibel]

Good thing Bombay is at sea level because anything downhill of that would have been disasterously flooded...

[tndefender]

Unfortunately, as more reports come in the death toll is rising.

""Most places in India don't receive this kind of rainfall in a year. This is the highest ever recorded in India's history," R.V. Sharma, director of the meteorological department in Bombay, told the AP. "We have to compare it with world records to find out if this was the highest in the world."

Many of the dead were electrocuted. Others became trapped in cars, drowned in swirling flood waters and were buried by falling walls.

"The situation is very grave," Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the state's top elected official, was quoted as saying on the Web site rediff.com. He said the deaths included seven children killed in a landslide in suburban Bombay's Andheri district."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8721885/

[rockyman]

Mobile had a severe rain event during Hurricane Danny...this is taken from http://www.southalabama.edu/cwrc/ahdanny.html


Danny's legacy was rain, not wind. Once the storm stalled over Mobile Bay, the storm's circular configuration changed radically resulting in the creation of an enormous rain "pocket" on the western side of the system. This area of torrential rain remained nearly stationary for seven to nine hours resulting in incredible rainfall totals over Dauphin Island and southeast Mobile County. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab recorded 36.71" of rain for the storm with 25.98" in seven hours. Doppler radar in Mobile estimated more than 43" over southwest Mobile Bay!

[mahicks]

Mobile had a severe rain event during Hurricane Danny...this is taken from http://www.southalabama.edu/cwrc/ahdanny.html


Danny's legacy was rain, not wind. Once the storm stalled over Mobile Bay, the storm's circular configuration changed radically resulting in the creation of an enormous rain "pocket" on the western side of the system. This area of torrential rain remained nearly stationary for seven to nine hours resulting in incredible rainfall totals over Dauphin Island and southeast Mobile County. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab recorded 36.71" of rain for the storm with 25.98" in seven hours. Doppler radar in Mobile estimated more than 43" over southwest Mobile Bay!

I was living in GS at the time...I remember it...It was HORRIBLE.

[EDR1222]

Those rain totals for India and also in Alabama from Hurricane Danny are hard to imagine. Incredible!

I thought Hurricane Erin dumping 9 inches of rain on Melbourne in 95 was a big deal. Obviously a drop in the bucket.

[Hurricaneman]

Rain I would figure would be the biggest problem

[ict1523]

Wow! 37 inches is just amazing. I for one would have loved to be in Bombay to experience rainfall rates that at some point were most likely at 10" per hour or more.

I do feel bad for those who got killed or lost most of their property. My condolences to them.

[Aslkahuna]

Actually, we DO have a monsoon in the US-it's called the North American Monsoon and is a major factor in the climate of the SW US. It's not as intense as the Indian Monsoon but it's a definite entity.

Steve

[JQ Public]

Until Wednesday, the country's heaviest rainfall in 24 hours was 838 millimetres, recorded in 1910 at Cherrapunji, in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

Parts of the city - which has a population of more than 15 million - received 944 millimetres of rain on Tuesday night alone. Sydney's average annual rainfall is 1216.5 millimetres.

[abajan]

In spite of this tragedy, in India the monsoon is (and seemingly has always been) considered a blessing and a time to rejoice.

I remember reading an interesting article some years ago in National Geographic Magazine about how even language is influenced by feelings about the monsoon. For instance, while most of us in the west tend to associate negative things like depression with cloudy skies and rain, just the opposite is true in India.

Believe it or not, a weak monsoon season can also spell trouble for the government of the day. Apparently it is reasoned by some that if the gods are angry with the policies of those in authority, they will cause the monsoon to fail!

That said, it's still a sad situation with all those deaths in India. Hopefully the toll doesn't rise dramatically as the waters receed.

[Hurricane_Apu]

The highest totals in Houston for Allison were 28" in 12 hours... some 3-day storm totals exceeded 40 inches...

[HurricaneBill]

Didn't TS Claudette in 1979 dump 43 inches of rain in 24 hours in a town in Texas? I forget the name of the town.

[Stratosphere747]

Didn't TS Claudette in 1979 dump 43 inches of rain in 24 hours in a town in Texas? I forget the name of the town.

Alvin....

[Normandy]

The highest totals in Houston for Allison were 28" in 12 hours... some 3-day storm totals exceeded 40 inches...

No, i thought it was 36 on the east side of town.

[mobilebay]

I agree that the Flooding in Mobile, and Houston area was terrible. However, we here in the USA are a lot better equipped to handle a disaster if this magnitude. Disasters in some of these other Countries are worse in my opinion, because they don't have the recourses we have here. God bless the USA! I love it!