🌀Tropical Cyclone Remal: The name “Remal”, means “sand” in Arabic. The name was given by Oman. Cyclone Remal is the first pre-monsoon cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this season. 

For the past two weeks, there have been predictions of a cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal. Initially, it was just a low-pressure area for a very long time, with no certainty about whether it would develop into a cyclonic storm.

At the beginning of this week, the low-pressure area developed into a Tropical Depression. I was hoping it wouldn’t turn into something severe and would avoid our area.

Throughout the week, there were countless predictions about when and where the storm would hit, and whether it would turn into a severe cyclonic storm.

On Wednesday, it became a cyclonic storm named Remal, and by Friday, it had intensified into a Severe Cyclonic Storm.

There were still ongoing predictions and forecasts, suggesting that landfall would occur on Saturday or Sunday. The storm had slowed down for a bit, and the air was filled with panic. Several weather forecast models showed the storm heading towards Bangladesh, sparing Kolkata.

However, that was not the case. As I write this, it is still raining heavily, and everything is flooded.

For future reference, rely solely on the ECMWF Model. Its accuracy proved itself this time around, as its predictions came true.

On Saturday, we stayed home for the most part, thinking there could be a possible landfall. There were speculations that the storm would not come, as all models predicted it would head to Bangladesh with isolated thunderstorms and rainfall here on Sunday night. The weather was hot, with no signs of rain or clouds.

Sunday morning was dark and gloomy, with the sky filled with heavy rain clouds. I took an Uber Moto, paid the driver extra, and went for a spin, clicking a few photographs at Princep Ghat, Dharamtala, and Maidan before returning home once my phone battery died. It rained a bit, then stopped, and there was no flooding. It seemed like the storm wasn’t coming at all. The expected landfall was at 12:00 AM on Sunday night, with a forecast of heavy rain throughout the day. Nothing much happened, giving hope that we might be spared from this cyclonic storm.

At 10:30 PM on Sunday night, it made landfall on the coastline of Bengal. There have been continuous heavy rains all night, leading to flooding, power outages, and damage to property all across the city. Park Street Metro Station is flooded.

There was some relief last night when the ministers in charge of this situation said there would be no flooding. But that was not the case; there has been significant flooding and a lot of damage across the city.

As I write this on Monday, May 27, 2024, the forecast is rain until 6 PM. It is said that Cyclone Remal is weakening, having crossed into Bangladesh around 12 PM. The rains continue to batter the city.

Needless to say, today is a very boring day. It’s not that I would be going out, but the sense of not being able to go out if I wanted to is annoying.

Here are some photographs from Princep Ghat, Maidan, and Dharamtala that I took on May 26, 2024 (Sunday).

Here are some photographs from May 27, 2024 (Monday).

Back to work now! First order of duty tomorrow, is going out!

Note: All the images present in this coverage are copyrighted and owned by Craig Gomes. If you wish to use these images or have any inquiries, you are advised to get in touch through craiggomes.com