West Bengal's Fisheries Minister Kiranmoy Nanda told the BBC that at least 60 trawlers had been out at sea when the storm picked up strength in the Bay of Bengal.

BBC: Cyclone hits Bay of Bengal

The remark referenced a gospel passage in which Jesus Christ sleeps amid a storm at sea and then awakes to calm the tempest.

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Storm surges have the potential to be dangerous because they involve a great upwelling of a stretch of ocean - intense low pressure at the heart of a storm literally tugs the sea surface above its normal level to create a massive bulge.

BBC: Legacy of Britain's great flood

The captain believed, Cleveland said, that his ship would be safer riding Sandy out at sea, instead of waiting for the storm to hit them in New London.

CNN: Bounty crew calm, joking after Hurricane Sandy nightmare

Once a storm caused two ships to sink in the same area and all on board were lost at sea, save one from each ship, who survived only because they swam to a nearby island.

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