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PAKISTAN
BWIA~TICS OF THE DISASTER
DATE-TIME: April 14, 1969
LDCATICN:
Eacca and Comilla Districts of East Pakistan
DISASTER Vim & DAMAGES: Killed J!!&Es Hameless
T 15,530 23,943
DESCRIPTION OF ?HE DISA.SER
Affected
m -318 9,241
t
Haws LestroyeWDarrraged
Crop Damage Livestock Losses
7,642 acres 984 head/catt le
Estimated dollar property darnage : $8,329,63~
Cyclones a . one of the most car~non disasters in East Pakistan. one
that ravaged the Dacca and Camilla Districts of East Pakistan on April 14,
1969 was of a different type, and rather unusual in this area. Strong
winds had been blowing since morning
and the sky was overcast. Just before
dusk, without any signal, the cyclone,
accompanied by a tornado, started.
Its duration was short, hardly 3 to
5 minutes, but the devastation was
imnense. The tornado first touched
down at Dacca Airport and then moved
toward the eastern part of Dacca City.
At the tim of the cyclone a U. S,
weather expert, Mr. Gordon Dunn, was
in East Pakistan. He said that the
central force of the tornado was as
high as 400 miles per hour. Everything
in its path, one-half mile in
breadth and about twenty miles in
length, was either smashed, twisted
or blown away, Corrugated iron sheets
flying thmugh the air acted as giant
razors.
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