KOLKATA, INDIA — India and Bangladesh are evacuating millions before the path of Tropical Cyclone Amphan, which is expected to make imminent landfall on the evening of May 20.
Amphan is the second-ever super cyclone on record to hit the Bay of Bengal. The powerful storm was sustaining an airspeed of 172 km per hour at the time of report.
Citing India's weather department, the BBC reports the storm will bring a 3 to 5-meter surge, and the authorities have called on fishing boats to stay ashore.
The U.S. Pacific Center says up to 33.6 million people in India and 5.3 million people in Bangladesh are exposed to the storm, with capital exposures of up to $273.9 billion.
The cyclone will likely fall on the India-Bangladesh border and the projected path will bring the storm near the Indian city of Kolkata.
More than 14 million people reside in this densely populated urban center.
Thumbnail credit: FLICKR / VINOTH CHANDAR
