Dear Tom,
The Myanmar cyclone disaster is horrific. What could account for such a catastrophe?
— Steve Bartik
Dear Steve,
The disaster in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is staggering. The official death toll, now at more than 20,000, could climb to 100,000 as a worst-case possibility, said Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Yangon.
On the evening of May 2, Cyclone Nargis moved from west to east along Myanmar’s southern coast. It brought sustained winds of 125 m.p.h. and a 12-foot storm surge that swept across the flat, low-lying and densely populated delta of the Irrawaddy River.
The river branches into several large channels that drain south into the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, the north/south orientation of those channels allowed the cyclone’s onshore winds to push the storm surge many miles inland.
———-
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or: asktomwhy@wgntv.com
Weather Report is prepared by the WGN-TV Weather Center, where Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon, 5:55 p.m. and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
IN THE WEB EDITION: For updated weather news, forecasts by ZIP code and local radar images, go to chicagotribune.com/weather or wgntv.com
