November 12, 1970 East Pakistan, now called Bangladesh, and West Bengal was struck by a devastating cyclone that killed up to 500,000 people and 100,000 people missing due to the 20 ft storm surge of the Ganges Delta that flooded many of the islands that are low-lying. Since the devastation was extremely deadly, a proper count was impossible. There are some who say that the death toll could be as high as 1,00,000. Some people were drowned when in bed due to the water rising during the early morning, but many more lost their lived due to their attempts in transporting their possessions rather than fleeing to higher ground or safety. This was the season's strongest cyclic storm out of the North Indian Ocean cyclone season and reached a strength that is similar to an extremely strong category three hurricane. November 8th is when the cyclone formed and started to move north from central Bay of Bengal. By November 12th, the peak was reached at 225 km/h for winds and a landfall was made at night on the coast of East Pakistan. Multiple offshore islands were devastated by this storm surge that destroyed crops and wiped out villages. Tazumuddin and Charfasson was most affected by this with more than forty-five percent of the population killed, around 167,000 people. Meteorologists knew of the storm that was about to approach, but could not get word out to people living on the coast and islands of the Ganges River. There was over $490 million worth of damage that occured. Around eighty-five percent of dwellings were damaged or destroyed with the most damage along the coast. More than half of the fishermen in the region disappeared and the rest were severely injured. This natural disaster was a huge blow to the fishing industry where eighty percent consumes fish for protein.
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