The 1999 Odisha cyclone (IMD designation BOB 06, JTWC designation 05B) was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region. The cyclone organized into a tropical depression in the Andaman Sea on 25 October, though its origins could be traced back to an area of convection in the Sulu Sea four days prior. The disturbance gradually strengthened as it took a west-northwesterly path, reaching cyclonic storm strength the next day. Aided by highly favorable conditions, the storm rapidly intensified, attaining super cyclonic storm intensity on 28 October, before peaking on the next day with winds of and a record-low pressure of 912 hPa mbar ). The storm maintained this intensity as it made landfall on Odisha on 29 October. The cyclone steadily weakened due to persistent land interaction and dry air, remaining quasi-stationary for two days before slowly drifting offshore as a much weaker system; the storm dissipated on 4 November over the Bay of Bengal.
Although its primary effects were felt in a localized area of India, the outer fringes of the super cyclone impacted Myanmar and Bangladesh. Ten people were killed in the former, while two were killed in the latter by the storm's rainbands. The storm was the most severe to strike Odisha in the 20th century, raking the state and adjacent areas with high storm surge, powerful winds, and torrential rainfall. The storm's impacts exacerbated the damage caused by a very severe cyclone that struck the same region less than two weeks earlier. The surge brought water up to inland, carrying along with it coastal debris, inundating towns and villages. The surge combined with heavy rains to produce widespread flooding, damaging around 1.6 million homes and causing rivers to breach 20,005 flood embankments. The storm's effects destroyed numerous crops, including sugar cane, rice, and other winter-time harvests. Although estimates of the death toll varied significantly—at times suggesting 30,000 fatalities—the Government of India enumerated 9,887 fatalities in the country, of which a majority were caused by storm surge; over 8,000 deaths occurred in Jagatsinghpur. The total damage cost of the destruction wrought by the super cyclone amounted to US$4.44 billion.
Recovery efforts were extensive following the storm's passage. The Government of India allocated ₹3 billion (US$69.3 million) to the Odisha state government, supplementing earlier contributions made towards relief from the earlier cyclone. Various branches of the Indian Armed Forces were dispatched to aid the recovery efforts. Contributions from foreign governments amounted to nearly US$13 million, with more than half allocated by the United States. Alongside foreign and domestic government contributions, between 12 and 14 international aid agencies concurrently participated in relief efforts in the storm's aftermath.
Meteorological history
Although the storm organized into a tropical cyclone in the Andaman Sea, the origins of the 1999 Odisha cyclone can be traced back to an area of convection that began developing in the Sulu Sea on 21 October. Despite some signs of development, wind shear suppressed outflow and prevented any significant organization. Tracking westward, the disturbance encountered a more favorable environment in the South China Sea; as a result, thunderstorm activity began to increase. Prompted by these changes, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) at 02:00 UTC on 23 October. However, the system failed to develop any further before wind shear reemerged in the Gulf of Thailand, causing convection to diminish and resulting in the cancellation of the TCFA. On 24 October, the storm crossed the Malay Peninsula and moved into the Andaman Sea by 03:00 UTC on the following day. Although the environment remained moderately unfavorable for tropical cyclogenesis, the disturbance organized, developing fair outflow, a strong rainband, and additional convection. At 06:00 UTC on 25 October, the system became a tropical depression while centered east of Port Blair. As such, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) designated the system as BOB 06. With the storm now steadily organizing, the JTWC once again issued a TCFA at 19:30 UTC on 25 October; early the following day, the IMD assessed that the nascent depression had strengthened into a cyclonic storm. At the time, the storm was located south-southeast of Rangoon, Myanmar.
Under the steering influence of an upper-level ridge to its northeast, BOB 06 began to take a more northwesterly course. The ridge also provided a highly conducive environment for intensification and eventually became positioned atop the strengthening cyclonic storm, slowing the cyclone and allowing it to generate good outflow. With these conditions in place, BOB 06 entered a phase of rapid intensification, strengthening faster than climatological rates. BOB 06 strengthened into a severe cyclonic storm at 03:00 UTC on 27 October and attained very severe cyclonic storm intensity just nine hours later with the storm centered south of Chittagong, Bangladesh. An eye emerged on visible satellite imagery early on 28 October, and at 15:00 UTC that day, the IMD classified BOB 06 as a super cyclonic storm, the highest rating on the IMD's cyclone scale. Using the Dvorak technique, the IMD estimated that BOB 06 reached its peak intensity three hours later with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum barometric pressure of 912 mbar (hPa; ); this made BOB 06 the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean by pressure with sustained winds at the time matched by only two other known cyclones in the Bay of Bengal. At the time, the 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was the only storm in the region of comparable intensity. Although the storm's organization and appearance deteriorated as it neared land, BOB 06's intensity held steady up until it made landfall on the Odisha coast between Puri and Kendrapara at 06:00 UTC on 29 October.
Rather than moving inland as forecast, the tropical cyclone became quasi-stationary over the coastal Jajpur area as it laid within a weak steering region between two upper-level anticyclones. Remaining situated over land, the storm steadily weakened as it began to advect dry air into its circulation, deteriorating into a cyclonic storm on 30 October. The entraining of dry air limited thunderstorm activity to a single rainband to the system's northeast. Soon, the weakening storm became caught in a mid-tropospheric wind flow, inducing a southward drift that brought BOB 06 back over the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone continued to weaken over water, and the IMD stopped monitoring the storm on 31 October; the JTWC followed suit a day later. The remnant low-pressure system continued to meander around the area for a few more days before eventually dissipating.
Preparations
The India Meteorological Department periodically issued cyclone warning bulletins during the storm's lifetime, with the first being directed to the Chief Secretary of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 26 October; the first bulletin noted potential impacts and advised fishermen not to venture out to sea. Six warnings were issued for the islands, with the last being issued on 27 October once the storm passed to the north and west. Due to initial uncertainty in the storm's forecast track, the first warnings for the coast of mainland India on 27 October concerned northern Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal. Hourly dissemination of cyclone bulletins were carried out by Doordarshan and All India Radio beginning on 28 October. These warnings eventually narrowed in scope to the eventually affected areas, with the last warning being issued for Odisha on 31 October.
The Indian Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) served as the primary administrative body for coordinating preparatory and relief work during the 1999 Odisha cyclone. Upon the storm's formation, the DAC requested the chief secretaries and relief commissioners of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal to begin storm preparations and initiate evacuations if necessary. Evacuations in Odisha involved nearly 150,000 people living within of the coastline in five districts. Six districts maintained 23 permanent cyclone shelters operated by the Indian Red Cross Society, eventually serving to house 30,000 evacuees. At Paradip Port, twelve docked ships were evacuated out to sea to avoid the cyclone. In neighboring West Bengal, 200,000 people were evacuated from the state's vulnerable low-lying islands. The Indian Army was placed on stand-by, and food supplies were stocked up in prone regions. Train service was cancelled for the areas expected to be impacted by the cyclone.
Impact Myanmar and Bangladesh In Myanmar, 10 people were killed and 20,000 families were displaced.
Passing south of Bangladesh, the 1999 Odisha super cyclone's northern fringes swept across the country, killing two people and initially causing 200 fishermen to go missing. Substantial damage to housing was reported.
India + Effects in Odisha CasualtiesDistrictDeathsAffected populationHouses damagedBalasore51Bhadrak98Cuttack471Dhenkanal55Jagatsinghpur8,119Jajpur188Kendrapada469Keonjhar91Khurda91Puri301Mayurbhanj10Nayagarh3Totals9,887
The state of Odisha sustained the most catastrophic damage associated with Cyclone BOB 06, which was considered the state's severest cyclone of the 20th century. The damage was compounded by the earlier impact of a very severe cyclonic storm that struck nearby areas just 11 days earlier. Twelve districts of Odisha suffered severe damage, reporting complete breakdown of essential services: Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Khurda, Puri, Mayurbhanj, and Nayagarh. Among these, the blocks of Erasma and Kujang in Jagatsinghpur were the worst affected. In total, 12.9 million people were affected by the storm; estimates for the storm's death toll vary significantly, though the India Meteorological Department indicated that around 9,887 were killed, with an additional 40 persons missing and 2,507 others injured. The majority of these deaths occurred in Jagatsinghpur. where 8,119 were killed. The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters' EM-DAT disaster database indicates that 10,915 people were killed. However, other estimates suggested that the death toll may have been as high as 30,000. The storm's effects damaged 1.6 million homes across 14,643 villages and 97 blocks. In turn, 2.5 million people were marooned. A total of (7,110 mi2) of crop land was impacted, and 444,000 livestock casualties were also reported. The sugar cane crop was destroyed alongside other kharif and rabi crops. About 2 million tonnes (2.2 million tons) of the winter rice crop was destroyed. Total damage caused by the destructive cyclone amounted to US$4.4444 billion.