Visions of Hell: heavy rains

Showing posts with label heavy rains. Show all posts

Saturday, October 21, 2023

STH stormwatch : LOW pressure in the Bay of Bengal.

SaveTheHills Stormwatch is a series where we track and report on significant weather developments in our region not only to forewarn our communities (which we largely do today through our WhatsApp Group 'Hazard Alerts 1& 2') but keep a record of the event.
As on 20Oct2023, a low pressure formed in the central Bay of Bengal which is likely to intensify into a depression by 22Oct and move towards the Bangladesh and West Bengal coasts by 24Oct2023.
The Darjeeling-Sikkim region has just seen catastrophic flooding and destruction in the 04Oct2023 GLOF from South Lhonak glacier and being located barely 600kms from the Bay of Bengal any major storm in the north Bay will probably impact our region and which would hamper all reconstruction activities and make lives of those who have lost everything even more difficult.

Update on 22Oct2023

IMD has posted to its first forecast track (above) on the probable path of the storm

Update 24Oct2023: Cyclone 'HAMOON' is born
JTWC's forecast track
IMD latest forecast track

Kolkata reported moderate rainfall for sometime on 23Oct2023, but largely the storm seems to be keeping clear of the city.

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744

Monday, August 3, 2020

Landslide Report 2 (Kalimpong) July 2020 - contd

Landslide 4

I was with Prof Indira Lepcha (2nd from L) and a group of Geography Dept Students of North Bengal University in Feb2020 at this site in Lower Chibo area of Kalimpong. At that time the slide near the jhora was much smaller

Toe erosion at the same spot on 27July2020 has caused a much bigger slide now even though the road
is quite intact.
Location: Lower Chibo, Kalimpong
Coordinates: 27°03.077´N 088°26.732´E
Elevation: 923m
Date of Occurrence: 27July2020.
Landslide type: Debris
Size: Large (size of a 3 storey building)
Cause of Landslide: Heavy rainfall and toe erosion
Damage:
No apparent damage but if further slippage occurs the slide may block the jhora, forming a small landslide dam
Rainfall: 06July -109mm, 23Jul - 62.8mm, 27Jul - 88mm

Landslide 5

Location: Chitrey, Kalimpong district
Coordinates: 27°03´51.09"N 088°25´42.20"E
Elevation: 277m
Date of Occurrence: 27July2020.
Landslide type: Debris
Size: Large (size of a 3 storey building)
Cause of Landslide: Heavy rainfall
Damage: Chitrey lies on NH10 and is where the road bifurcates to Sikkim and Kalimpong. The landslide here was troublesome and active below the road several years ago because of toe erosion by the Chitrey jhora. It has somehow remained dormant.
This slide from above the road was activated on 27Jul and threatens to cut off Kalimpong and SIkkim on NH10.
Rainfall: 06July -109mm, 23Jul - 62.8mm, 27Jul - 88mm

Landslide 6

Signatures of some of the people of 3rd Mile who are affected by the landslides

Location: Lower Tashiding (3rd Mile) Kalimpong district
Coordinates: Between 27°03.721'N 088°26.214'E and 27°03.694'N 088°26.346'E
Elevation: 615m to 687m
Date of Occurrence: 27July2020.
Landslide type: Debris
Size: Villagers estimate approx 300m of farmland and populated areas maybe subsiding.
Cause of Landslide: Erosion during heavy rain by the 6th Mile and Gurudev jhoras (mountain rivulets) which gets charged by the large runoff from urban areas (Kalimpong town) at the crest. This subsidence is not new but has been accelerated by the heavy rains of Jun/Jul2020.
Damage: As per villagers I talked to, approx 40 homes are affected, along with farmland at the 3rd Mile area are affected. Also State Highway 12 which connects Teesta Bazar to Kalimpong is likely to be affected at the 3rd Mile area due to its proximity to the subsiding areas.
Rainfall: 06July -109mm, 23Jul - 62.8mm, 27Jul - 88mm

Unverified Damage Reports