the most powerful of these; the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone was significantly stronger when it made landfall in the same general area, as a Category 5-equivalent cyclone with winds. The Bhola cyclone is the deadliest tropical cyclone on record and also one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. A comparable number of people died as a result of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, but because of uncertainty in the number of deaths in all four disasters it may never be known which one was the deadliest. Bangladesh The meteorological station in Chittagong, to the east of where the storm made landfall, recorded winds of before its anemometer was blown off at about 2200 UTC on November 12. A ship anchored in the port in the same area recorded a peak gust of about 45 minutes later. As the storm made landfall, it caused a high storm surge at the Ganges Delta. In the port at Chittagong, the storm tide peaked at about above the average sea level, of which was the storm surge. Radio Pakistan reported that there were no survivors on the thirteen islands near Chittagong. A flight over the area showed the devastation was complete throughout the southern half of Bhola Island, and the rice crops of Bhola Island, Hatia Island and the nearby mainland coastline were destroyed. Several seagoing vessels in the ports of Chittagong and Mongla were reported damaged, and the airports at Chittagong and Cox's Bazar were under of water for several hours. Over 3.6 million people were directly affected by the cyclone, and the total damage from the storm was estimated at US$86.4 million (US$450 million in 2006 dollars). The survivors claimed that approximately 85% of homes in the area were destroyed or severely damaged, with the greatest destruction occurring along the coast. Ninety percent of marine fishermen in the region suffered heavy losses, including the destruction of 9,000 offshore fishing boats. Of the 77,000 onshore fishermen, 46,000 were killed by the cyclone, and 40% of the survivors were affected severely. In total, approximately 65% of the fishing capacity of the coastal region was destroyed by the storm, in a region where about 80% of the protein consumed comes from fish. Agricultural damage was similarly severe with the loss of US$63 million worth of crops and 280,000 cattle. Three months after the storm, 75% of