Cyclone Bulbul brought strong winds and torrential rain to the low-lying coasts of Bangladesh and eastern India. The storm began its formation near Palau, to the east of the Philippines – 3,100 miles (5,000km) from Bangladesh. The system then crossed the Indochinese peninsula and intensified over the Bay of Bengal before making landfall on 9 November near Sagar Island in West Bengal, India. More than 200mm of rain fell in places, coupled with an extreme storm surge and winds reaching 75mph. Across Bangladesh, 2.1 million people were relocated to cyclone shelters, but 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. About 5,000 trees were brought down in the Sundarbans – the world’s largest mangrove forest.
In Venice, Italy, 90% of the canal city has been flooded in the past week due to tides at their highest levels for more than 50 years. Water levels reached 187cm above normal on 12 November, forcing St Mark’s Square to close, while the vaporetti – the city’s famous waterbuses – were suspended. The flooding has been estimated to have caused more than €1bn-worth of damage.
Meanwhile, much of Canada and the US experienced record-breaking cold weather last week. In Texas, temperatures dropped more than 30C in less than 24 hours.
