Storm likely but no cyclone heading towards Burma: IMD

by Mungpi

Wednesday, 14 May 2008 18:39

New Delhi - The Indian Meteorological Department on Wednesday said though a low pressure swirl has formed on Burma's southwestern coastal area adjoining the Bay of Bengal, it is unlikely to intensify into a cyclone. The IMD, which is designated the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) recognized by the World Meteorological Organization said, the low pressure area currently forming in the Bay of Bengal will not form into a cyclone in the next 24 hours. "We have not issued any alarm, as it is clear that within the next 24 hours it will not intensify into a cyclone," B.P. Yadav, director of the IMD, told Mizzima. Earlier on Wednesday, the US the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC), an official US Navy website forecast that a tropical depression swirling southwest of Burma's former capital Rangoon could intensify into a cyclone within the next 24 hours. "Though the disturbance is currently over land, minimal degradation of the low level is expected due to the low lying topography and fairly quick transit over the low-lying coastal region of southern Myanmar," the website said. "The potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours is good with the only limitation being temporary land interaction," added the website. Yadav, however, said, "It is highly unlikely that the system will develop into a cyclone even in the coming days." Yadav said the predictions are normally made on a weekly basis and that there is no indication that the system currently developed in coastal areas of Burma adjoining the Bay of Bengal will develop into a cyclone. Meanwhile, an official at Burma's department of Meteorology and Hydrology in Nay Pyi Taw, said they have not seen any indication that suggests an approaching cyclone. "It is not a cyclone, so far as we are aware there could be a low pressure area and heavy rainfall," the official said. Cyclone Nargis swept through Burma's southwestern coastal area of the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon division on May 2 and 3, killing an estimated 100,000 people and left nearly two million homeless. While the international community has been struggling to get aid into the cyclone affected areas and to the victims, the UN and International Aid agencies said they have not been able to reach the majority of the victims. < Prev   Next >