Cyclone Bijli living in rural villages sought shelter in inland towns along the coast of Myanmar. The entire village of Aukpyunewa evacuated after hearing about an approaching cyclone on the radio. According to local residents, "We are taking precautions unlike earlier" in reference to the large loss of life due to Cyclone Nargis. The storm produced little or no storm surge in Myanmar as it made landfall; however, the remnants of Bijli produced heavy rains over northern areas of the country before the storm dissipated. Cyclone Bijli Cyclone Bijli (JTWC designation: 01B, also known as Cyclonic Storm Bijli), was the first tropical
2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season with a storm surge. Approximately 800,000 homes were severely damaged or destroyed and infrastructure was devastated. An estimated 138,373 people lost their lives and damage reached 11.7 trillion Burmese kyat (US$12.9 billion). Nargis is regarded as the worst disaster in the nation's history as well as the fourth-deadliest tropical cyclone on record. Other storms throughout the season caused significant damage in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Yemen. A depression in October was responsible for 180 deaths and US$1 billion in damage across Yemen. Overall, approximately 138,927 people were killed and losses totaled $14.7 billion (2008 USD). In late April, the