Abstract Amphan (16–21 May 2020) is the most intense tropical storm in the history of West Bengal during recent decades (2011–2020). After the 1999 Odisha Super Cyclone (OSuC), it is also the most intense super cyclonic storm (SuCS) that has originated over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and caused irreparable damages during the storm event. The intensification time of Amphan was slow initially, but it grew from category 1 to 5 in record time, just within 18 h. This paper highlights mainly the pre-disaster state-level preparedness and also the severity of cyclonic storm Amphan on West Bengal. To map the flooded areas of southern West Bengal, the Sentinel-1 SAR dataset have been analyzed in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) environment. The results derived from the pixel-based analysis show that nearly 1075 km2 of land has been inundated due to intense rainfall and storm surges during Amphan. The powerful high storm surge is also responsible for the embankment breaching, which is 160 km long along the coastal belt of West Bengal.
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