Cyclone

A cyclone is a significant wind and pressure event in the atmosphere. Extra tropical cyclones, sometimes known as temperate cyclones, and tropical cyclones are the two categories under which cyclones fall. The name “cyclone” comes from the Greek word “cyclos,” which means a snake’s coils. Henry Peddington came up with the term because tropical storms in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal resemble coiled sea serpents.

A cyclone is a system of winds (characterised by strong winds and high winds) rotating counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere around a low-pressure center. The word Cyclone is obtained from the Greek word Cyclos meaning the coils of a snake. It was coined by Henry Peddington as the tropical storms in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea look like coiled serpents of the sea.

There are two types of cyclones: tropical(temperate) and extra-tropical.

Extra-tropical cyclones take place in temperate zones and high latitude regions, though they are known to originate in the Polar Regions.

Tropical cyclones generated in the regions between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer are known as tropical cyclones. A tropical cyclone is a large meteorological system formed over tropical or subtropical

waters, where they are organised into surface wind circulations.

Causes: A cyclone is an atmospheric disturbance caused by the swift and destructive movement of air around a low-pressure area. Cyclones are generally accompanied by violent storms and bad weather.

Effects:

• Buildings made of lightweight materials such as wood, mud, and old buildings with weak walls are at risk.
• Coastal settlements situated in lowlying areas are directly exposed to sealevel rise. Settlements in bordering areas are vulnerable to floods, mudslides or landslides due to heavy rain.
• Cyclone damage usually affects structures such as telephone and electricity poles, fences, signboards, hoardings, fishing boats, and trees.
• A cyclone or flood may occur due to heavy rains washing away people and their property.
• There is a possibility that sea waves may enter the land and cause flooding due to the cyclone along the coastline. This may result in saline water contamination of soil and water in the affected area, affecting water supply and severely affecting agricultural crops.

Cyclones range in diameter from 50 to 320 km, yet they have an impact on lower atmosphere and thousands of square kilometres of ocean surface. Winds may blow at a speed of 320 km closer to the Eye. Due to the unusual amount of rainfall and storm surge inundation into inland areas, cyclones, disturb regular life and are associated with floods. The destructive capacity of cyclones to damage buildings,  highways, bridges, and   crops, is what makes them so dangerous. Storm surges and the torrential rain that floods coastal lowlands are the main causes of mortality.