Tens of thousands displaced by Cyclone Biparjoy

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the aftermath of Cyclone Biparjoy, which made landfall in western India on June 15, 2023. Even though its strength of weakened before it reached land, the storm moved slowly as it moved inland and toward the northeast.

According to NASA, several days of intense rainfall in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh triggered widespread flooding.

Flooding was visible when this image was captured on June 21 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite.

“Water pooled in low-lying wildlife sanctuaries and salt flats in the area, including the Great Rann of Kutch. But water also swept through towns and cities surrounding these sparsely populated areas,” said NASA.

“In the process, it flooded tens of thousands of homes, caused power outages, swamped farmland, and displaced tens of thousands of people. The Indian news outlet ETV Bharat even reported a sharp increase in snake bites in one part of Rajasthan because of the flooding.”

“According to the India Meteorological Department, Cyclone Biparjoy was one of the longest-lived cyclones ever observed in the North Indian Ocean. The average lifespan of a tropical cyclone in this region is six days and three hours; Biparjoy persisted for 13 days and three hours, nearly topping a 1977 storm that lasted for 14 days and six hours.”

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/ Wanmei Liang

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