ABSTRACT
The cyclone struck the coast of the Krishna delta at dusk on the 19th November 1977 with windspeeds of 150 kmph and a storm surge 5 m high at the coast. The storm crossed the coast of Divi Seema at 1630 hours (Subbaramayya et al. 1979) and the surge waters reached the first villages at 1700 hours. By the time they reached the more densely populated inland villages it was dark and the combination of shrieking winds and a wall of water must have added to the terror and confusion of the villagers and may also partly explain the high proportion of women and children’s deaths.
