In an age of turbulent and unpredictable weather, readiness to deal and adapt has become increasingly critical. Today’s blog will take us back to October 1876, when one of the most devastating tropical cyclones in recorded history struck what is now Barisal, Bangladesh. Known as the Backerganj Cyclone, it killed an estimated 200,000 people — a haunting reminder of the Bay of Bengal’s deadly storms and why understanding their power still matters today.
Let’s start with a little science lesson on tropical cyclones first. A tropical cyclone is an intense, circular storm that forms over warm tropical oceans. It’s driven by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and torrential rain, drawing its energy from the heat of the ocean surface.
These storms spin differently, depending on where they form – counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Moreover, a cyclone can grow in strength as long as it stays over warm water. Once winds exceed 119 km/h (74 mph), it earns names like “hurricane”, “typhoon”, or “cyclone” — depending on the region. In the Bay of Bengal, they’re were termed as cyclones.
Importantly, the Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 was one of the most powerful ever recorded in this region, with estimated winds up to 220 km/h (140 mph).
The Storm: The Beginning of the End
On October 27, 1876, a tropical depression formed over the southeastern Bay of Bengal. As it fed on the warm waters, it intensified quickly, curving northward toward the densely populated Meghna River delta.
By the time it made landfall on October 31, it had become a fully developed cyclone — unleashing catastrophic winds and tall walls of water.
Striking at high tide, this was when the true horror beginned. The cyclone pushed a wave of seawater from 3 to 13.6 meters (or 10–45 feet) high across the flat, low-lying delta. Entire villages were swallowed and destroyed, and the districts of Backerganj, Chittagong, Barisal, and Noakhali bore the brunt of the flood. Homes, boats, and fields vanished in hours. The devastation defied comprehension; an estimate of 200,000 people died, with half drowning in the surge. The rest died in the weeks after, from starvation and cholera.
The floodwaters covered 3,000 square miles (7,800 sq km), affecting about 1 million people. Some villages lost 70% of their population.
As the waters receded, survivors faced a new nightmare. Crops and granaries were destroyed, livestock swept away, and transportation networks broken. Relief was slow to arrive. Cholera epidemics ravaged the region, killing thousands more in the disaster’s aftermath.
For many, survival did not just mean enduring the cyclone, but the famine and disease that followed.
Globally, the sheer scale of the disaster stunned colonial administrators and everyone else. Due to the numerous reports and records coming out of this event, it became one of the best-documented natural disasters of the 19th century.
As a result, the aftermath spurred reforms in disaster relief and early-warning systems, as well as a growth of scientific meteorology in Bengal, which laid the groundwork for modern cyclone tracking.
The 1876 Backerganj Cyclone isn’t just history — it’s a warning. The Bay of Bengal remains one of the most cyclone-prone regions in the world, and with climate change driving sea-level rise and more intense storms, this places millions at risk, especially marginalised groups in society.
In the face of rising sea levels and intensifying cyclones driven by anthropogenic climate change, the lessons from events like the Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 remain vital for both scientific inquiry and policy-driven resilience planning. In reconstructing Southeast Asia’s rainfall patterns, we hope to build and add to baseline data, where we enrich past climate dynamics while also informing present-day risk assessments.
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