Look at this. See, mangrove swamps don't slow you down. Sidr has been over "land" for hours and it is still a Cat-3 storm. And heading for much more populated areas.
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The deadliest cyclone ever is said to have been the 1970 Bhola cyclone in Bangladesh. Perhaps a half million people died in that storm. That would be more than the number who died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
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Yeah, Greg, it's rare to see a storm maintain that strength so far inland. Means there will be some strong winds to grapple with, in addition to surge.
greg...
i'm not sure i'd totally discount the role that mangrove systems will ultimately play in the current cyclone situation unfolding in india... we have pretty good data (from previous cyclones in the indo-pacific as well as from areas affected by the 2005 tsunami) that healthy, intact mangrove systems (while not dampening storm energy) can certainly be efficient buffers of destructive storm surge...
here's another report that characterizes the ecosystem services of reefs and mangroves in storm protection:
Spaninks, F. and van Beukering, P. 1997. Economic Valuation of Mangrove Ecosystems: Potential and Limitations, CREED Working paper No 14, International Institute for Environment and Development, London.
i know absolutely nothing of the health and overall state of mangrove systems in bangladesh, but will be curious to find out once relief efforts have been attended to...