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Tropical Cyclone Aila - May 2009

Disaster description

The catastrophic Cyclone Aila hit the south-western coast of Bangladesh on 25 May 2009, killing 190 people, affecting more than 3.9 million people across the 11 coastal districts, disrupting their livelihoods, and destroying infrastructure. An estimated 243,000 houses were fully destroyed and over 373,000 were partially damaged. Thousands of people took shelter in different cyclone shelters, schools, and makeshift shelters on embankments. IFRC's emergency appeal was initially launched on 24 June 2009 of CHF 2,355,249 (USD 2.2 million or EUR 1.6 million) for nine months to assist 36,800 families (or 184,000 beneficiaries). (IFRC, 30 Jun 2010)

India: Cyclone AILA, which hit coastal West Bengal on 25 May, was described as one of the worst storms to hit Kolkata in 20 years. (IFRC, 29 May 2009) As of 30 June, 138 people had died and an estimated 6.8 million people were affected by the cyclone in the state. With large areas of the state submerged, the availability of clean drinking water was a serious challenge, and water-borne diseases were a major threat; 28 diarrhoeal deaths were registered and more than 85,000 cases of diarrhoea were reported. While 18 out of the 19 districts in West Bengal were affected, the situation was particularly precarious in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts of the Sunderbans area. Approximately 945,000 houses have been damaged, the majority of them in Sunderbans. (UNICEF, 30 Jun 2009)

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