Mahasen made landfall in Bangladesh on May 16, 2013. The same day, Reuters reported that the storm had claimed six lives, forced thousands of residents into shelters, and destroyed thousands of huts. Despite the damage, the toll was less severe than feared in Bangladesh and Burma, where thousands of displaced people were already living in flood-prone camps.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image the day that Mahasen came ashore. Clouds stretched across Bangladesh, northeastern India, and northwestern Burma.
In its final warning for Mahasen, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that the storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 knots (85 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 55 knots (100 kilometers per hour), but was dissipating over land.
References & Resources
- Joint Typhoon Warning Center Accessed May 16, 2013.
- Reuters (2013, May 16) Cyclone Mahasen buffets Bangladesh coast, six dead. Accessed May 16, 2013.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
