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In 1999, 10,000 people were killed when a ferocious cyclone hit eastern India. A week ago, the same region, the state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, was once again in the crosshairs. This time it was the region's most powerful storm this century.
But there was a much better outcome.
A million Odishans were evacuated to shelters ahead of time. Only 21 people seem to have lost their lives. Thousands of others were saved. Extreme climate events may be getting worse, but technology has truly enabled us to save lives. We're now better than ever predicting the scale of storms and cyclones and we're better than ever at getting the message out.
Of course you still need a government that manages these situations well, and for that all credit to the government of Odisha, which has learned from the mistakes of 1999.
There's no reason, why India can't equip itself with technology. Bangalore is India's "Silicon Valley".
My dear j. von hettlingen, there are some very good reasons why India struggles to equip itself with technology and falls on it's face while trying to modernize........ the corruption at all levels of their society is almost as bad as Africa......... and the stinking bureaucracy that pervades their entire existence, can be smelled from across the Indian Ocean.......... 🙁 It is indeed very sad though, that many of their best and brightest, shine with a luminosity that exceeds the sun, when they migrate to Silicon Valley, California..............