Cyclone Vayu

Super Cyclonic Storm Vayu, also known as simply Cyclone Vayu, was a catastrophic and extremely deadly tropical cyclone that caused widespread loss of life and destruction in Somalia, especially Mogadishu. A part of the hyperactive 2018-19 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Vayu developed from an area of low pressure east of the coast of Somalia on March 6th. The storm tracked east towards the country, slowly intensifying along the way. Vayu then tracked along the coast of the country, intensifying and bringing historic rainfall and storm surges with him. The cyclone then performed a loop before making landfall near Mogadishu as a Category 5 cyclone, before his remains exited back into the sea, briefly regenerated and dissipated completely on March 17.

In Mogadishu and its surroundings, the cyclone dropped over 50 inches of rainfall while stalling just off coast. A 36 foot (11 meter) storm surge swept across coastal parts of the city, flooding numerous houses. Along with that, the storm's powerful winds destroyed buildings, caused massive waves, and killed hundreds in the city.

However, the most damage occurred when the cyclone made landfall as a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. 190 mph winds blew entire buildings off their foundations and killed thousands. Despite this, the most damage occurred when over 80 inches of rainfall fell around the city and near the Shebelle and Jubba rivers. This along with the storm surge caused both of the river to overfill and flood the surrounding flatlands. The floods killed over a hundred thousand people and demolished hundreds of communities and villages, along with flooding a part of Mogadishu, already devastated prior by the same cyclone.

Overall, the storm caused over 114 thousand deaths and 17 billion dollars in damage. This makes is the costliest tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean, the 8th deadliest tropical cyclone ever observed and the 3rd deadliest named tropical cyclone (behind Super Typhoon Nina of 1975 and Cyclone Nargis of 2008).

Meteorological history
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Mogadishu
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Shebelle and Jubba river floods
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