Lessons from Sidr and Katrina: examining Bangladeshi progress in managing storm surge and some remaining challenges in the northern Bay of Bengal and central Gulf of Mexico regions

Abstract

While on opposite sides of the Earth, the Bay of Bengal coast of Bangladesh and the central Gulf of Mexico coast of the USA share a very similar physical vulnerability to impacts from tropical cyclones, and particularly from the phenomenon of storm surge. This paper will examine the societal impacts of this natural hazard on these two regions. The efforts of the nation of Bangladesh to overcome its socio-economic challenges to help develop mitigation and evacuation strategies to reduce death tolls associated with these storm surge events will be detailed. By examining the successes and failures of evacuations associated with two historic tropical cyclones that impacted these two areas, Katrina in the USA and Sidr in Bangladesh, possible lessons to illustrate ways to further reduce death tolls in the future will be discussed.