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23 people are dead and millions of others are out of power after Cyclone Remal struck eastern India and Bangladesh over the weekend, but it has since faded out.
Millions of people were evacuated from Bangladesh before the storm even made landfall, as the area is extremely dense and vulnerable to natural disasters. Sections of the country like the compact suburbs of Dhaka are among some of the least sanitary places in the world, leading to an abundance of diseases like cholera and typhoid. Just the slightest bit of flooding can wash away entire homes, some of which are very unstable and haphazardly constructed from waste materials.
Cyclone Remal slammed into Bangladesh on Sunday night (local time) with strong winds of over 70 mph and heavy rain. Thousands of homes in Bangladesh were flooded or torn down, killing 13 people. Trees were ripped out of the ground and over 13 million people lost power across the country as power lines were taken down as well.
Another 10 people were killed across eastern India after the flooding led to the collapse of a stone quarry in the state of Mizoram, which also suffered from the effects of the cyclone-- in addition to other eastern states like West Bengal. Millions of others are still without power in that region as well. Flights were also affected at major airports like Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, which had to halt all operations for 21 hours following the storm.
This comes after weeks of scorching weather across India and Bangladesh, as temperatures have consistently exceeded 110˚F (43.3˚C) in some areas of northern India and over 100˚F (37.7˚C) in eastern India. A heatwave in the north has been blazing for days, breaking records, and they show no signs of letting up. India's capital, New Delhi, topped out at 121.8˚C (49.9˚C), which is an all-time record for the city. In the city of Churu in the nearby state of Rajasthan, temperatures hit 122.9˚F (50.5˚C)-- the hottest in the country so far this year. It almost beat the India's all-time temperature record: 123.8˚F (51˚C) in 2016 in the town of Phalodi, Rajasthan.
Due to climate change, the situation in Bangladesh will continue to worsen as natural disasters like this cyclone become more and more common, while more heatwaves and extreme weather will also strike India in the coming years if the world does not take action immediately.
On another weather-related note, an update on the storms in the Midwest: just as other states have been starting to recover from the latest storms this weekend, Texas has taken a hard hit.
Strong winds and heavy rain from multiple supercells swept through the Dallas area on Tuesday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people and killing at least one person. Highways and roads were completely inundated by the downpours, and power lines and trees were blown down by the 80 mph winds.
Dangerous golf ball-sized hail also smashed windows and cars, adding to the damage.
Many citizens also woke up to a blaring siren after a tornado warning was issued for a lot of the city at around 6:00 am.
Multiple water rescues took place after citizens were trapped in high floodwaters, and crews had to come rescue others after they were trapped in their homes by flooding or downed trees and power lines.
In addition to that, numerous car accidents were strewn across highways and roads after flooding, low visibility, and slick surfaces made it very difficult to drive.
The storms caused widespread delays at Dallas airports as well, with 17% of flights leaving Dallas Love Field and 13% of flights leaving Dallas-Fort Worth International being canceled, and over 1/3 of all outbound flights were delayed.
Officials stated that it could take days to restore power to some areas, and over 570,000 people were still out of power as of Tuesday night, according to poweroutage.us. Over 250,000 of those outages were in Dallas County, which took the brunt of the hit. However, it may take weeks or even months to recover from the damage done by the storm. More severe weather later this week will also complicate efforts to bring power back to the city.
Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Bees can fly up to around 29,525 feet above sea level, which is taller than Mount Everest!
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): I like to use the hard times of the past to motivate me today.
(Dwayne Johnson)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Gadfly (noun) - In literal use, gadfly refers to any of various flies (such as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock. Gadfly is most popular in figurative use, however, where it refers to someone who provokes or annoys other people especially by persistent criticism.
In a Sentence: The journalist was known as a gadfly for exposing hypocrisy in politics.
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