The Insane Story Of The Deadliest Storm In Human History

On November 12, 1970, a cyclone hit the country of Bangladesh (which was known as East Pakistan at the time) that through a combination of bad timing, location, miscommunication, and political malice became the deadliest storm in human history, killing more than half a million people in one day. It became known as the Bhola Cyclone, and it set in motion a series of events that led to a genocide, a revolution, and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

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TIMESTAMPS -
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - The Deadliest Storm
3:11 - Mohammad Hai
5:27 - ITOS 1 and Neil Frank
6:54 - The New Alert
8:46 - Pakistan's History
14:57 - Sponsor - Nebula
16:04 - Operation Searchlight
20:33 - Conversations With Joe & Patreon

[ammarshahid]

I am from Pakistan, our history books hide the genocides and this conflict widely. I was taught Yahya Khan was a dictator, a bad person, he ruled with iron fist. But when it comes to topic of Bangladesh we are taught different thing. We are taught our brave soldiers got surrounded between rebellious Bangladeshi and Indian forces. They had to make sacrifices to protect Bangladeshi citizens who in return murdered them. A big part of this war is hidden from us. This storm has never been part of our history books

[muchavvir]

Bangladeshi here. (Not so) fun fact: All throughout 70s and 80s, Bangladesh was mostly thought of as 'the country with cyclones and floods'. And like all good famine stories, Henry Kissinger is intertwined in all of these. The nation continues to have challenges, but now we're more famous for manufacturing the tshirt/pair of jeans you're wearing right now. I wish my history classes back in school days were half as engaging as what Joe has done here. And I didn't know about Ukrainian 'Holodomor' at all. Thank you Joe.

[alkureshi]

I am from Bangladesh. So I am probably one of the few people who knew about this incident before seeing this video. Watching Joe Scott is a regular source of Joy for me. But this reminded me of the tales of tragedy that my grandmom used to tell. We used to seat around her horrified and used to listen to her stories in vivid terror. Anyways, shoutout to the other bangladeshis who sees the video.

[blueriverlore]

I was a sophomore in high school in '70 and a HUGE 'Beatles' fan. George Harrison and friends gave a 'Concert for Bangla Desh' and I bought the vinyl box I did some research on the tragedy and learned a lot about cyclones. That in turn led to my fascination with severe weather and I joined the USAF on Halloween 1973 and became a Weather Equipment Specialist 302X0 and specialized in weather radar (CPS9, FPS77 and FPS103). Just shows you that events that happen thousands of miles away can effect anyone's life.

[SoelemAafnan]

As a Bangladeshi PhD student in the US studying storm surge mechanisms, I cannot thank you enough Joe! From the history to the cyclone, each and every information is absolutely immaculate. This also adds value to the effort you have put in making this video, as a lot of this history have been subject to heavy manipulation and it is hard to find accurate information.

You are absolutely right, the struggle we have been through as Bangladeshis, is almost unknown to the western hemisphere. Thanks for putting us on the map Joe. I am buying you a coffee, God bless you.

[smososoms]

my family on my mother's side ran away from bangladesh to india during the genocide. i've been told countless stories about the circumstances of their escape, and how they began their new life in india. lets just say, it was not easy at all. but i never knew that this cyclone had started the chain of events. damn.

[moonlightalkemist]

I was part of a cyclone relief effort in Bangladesh in 1991. While not on the same scale as this tragedy, there were still over 250, 000 killed and over 10 million homeless in a day. I was part of a Marine Expeditionary Brigade that had taken part in Desert Shield and Desert Storm and were on our way back to the United States via Navy ship when we got the call to provide humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh. We were around the southern tip of India when we were ordered to Bangladesh. Upon entering the Bay of Bengal and steaming north toward Bangladesh we were horrified to see bodies floating in the ocean by the hundreds, if not thousands in view of each ship. Our part was called Operation Sea Angel and we participated in relief efforts until our stocks were depleted and our mission was complete. We brought food, helped construct desalination plants and provided medical assistance. A few of the Bangladeshi folks spent a few hours on our ship and were given hot showers and hot food. I'd never seen true desperation until those days in Bangladesh in 1991 and I've never forgotten those poor folks. This had more of an impact on me psychologically than any of the combat action I was involved in as a Marine infantryman in Desert Storm.

[SadiTonmoy]

Bangladeshi here, these events are taught to us in school since our childhood. But this was immaculate, unbiased, informative storytelling at its finest. Thank you Joe!
Now I'm intrigued about learning the global politics of that cold war era that very well could have prevented my existence and yours too, whoever is reading this. Take love ❤️

[MegCazalet]

Dr. Neal Frank was the meteorologist I watched on the news growing up in Houston. I had a severe storm phobia, that caused crazed panics when I even saw just dark clouds in the sky. My parents took me to meet with Dr. Frank and other meteorologists and they took time to try to ease my fears by teaching me about storms and storm safety. It was incredibly kind. It didn’t work instantly but it did help, and I’ll never forget that kindness. I eventually got more and more relief from my phobia, after a lot of hard work. I don’t go into blind panic over every dark cloud anymore, but I am hyper vigilant about severe weather. In Houston, it isn’t unusual! The extremes we’ve had in the last decade would’ve undone me as a kid.

Dr. Neal Frank is a legendary figure in Houston history, but especially to me.

[joshuapatrick]

10:57 if there’s anything I’ve learned about late 20th century geopolitics is that anytime a head of state is seen in a photo with a figure wearing sunglasses inside…it ain’t good.

[NotMikey]

Thank you for talking about this Joe. I feel like the atrocities done on the night of "Operation searchlight" and how it crippled Bangladesh as a country for years to come isn't talked about enough. I'm from Bangladesh and have been a long time fan of the channel.

[FahadAhmed-pext]

Being a Bangladeshi, I am so happy someone covered not only the Bhola Cyclone but also the liberation war at that period.

[nehalmahmudkhan]

Hey Joe, a Bangladeshi here, good to see you talk about our country and the hardship people had to go through in the past. Thank you

[fahimishrak]

Came here from nebula after seeing your video (operation searchlight) on the genocide of Bangladesh in 1971. I thank you for raising awareness. Tears come to my eyes when I think of how much my people, my country suffered. 🇧🇩

[kellyradtke]

When I first started working I had a coworker who was an older engineer from Bangladesh, he took all of us young engineers under his wing and mentored us. Had us over for dinner and was a great guy. He talked about the war once, he would have been a young tween then. Never mentioned the crazy storm but he learned to play bridge during the hard times and became a dang good engineer and great human. Thanks for sharing more of the backstory. No wonder he didn't talk about it much 😢

[rupsamukherjee]

Recently India and Bangladesh have faced quite a few severe cyclones. That is when, searching for worst cyclones of all time, I came to know about the Bhola cyclone, but couldn't find any substantial information about it on the internet, other than some technical information in Wikipedia. Thanks for coming up with this episode Mr. Scott!

[hasanchoudhurymd]

I am from Bangladesh and you are absolutely right about your narrative!
I had just come from E Pakistan in August 1970 and I was doing my internship in Kansas City during that period.
In April 1971 I went to Washington DC and NY to lobby along with many others for Bangladesh ! And later I went to the front line and served as a volunteer doctor with the Liberation Front ( Mukti Bahini) for about four months on a special visitor visa from India!
Then I returned to continue my medical residency etc and later became an American citizen.
It was overwhelming to experience the natural disasters and the inhumanity of genocide for the people of Bangladesh.
Warning system were not in place and there were no evacuation procedures.
Currently there are better warning systems and evacuation plans in place from what I understand. Regards.

[UmerAqdas]

I am from Pakistan, and I can say with absolute certainty that Yahya Khan was a mad man. This is the part of my country's history that I always need to know and remember for us to not repeat these mistakes.

[fajim]

Watching your video "operation searchlight" on nebula brought tears to my eyes. As a Bengali, it's hard to put into words the pain and trauma that my people have endured as a result of the genocide in 1971. My family has shared with me the stories of their experiences during the Bangladesh Liberation War, and the fear and violence that they faced on a daily basis. Thank you for sharing the video and raising awareness about the genocide. It's important that we continue to honor the memory of those who were lost and work towards creating a world where such atrocities do not occur. We must never forget the victims, and I hope that by sharing the video, we can continue to educate others about the importance of human rights and justice. Joy Bangla!

[sakibabrar]

Thank you so much for talking about this. I am from Bangladesh and very few people from the outside world actually know how much we have suffered. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.