After making landfall in the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 250 km/h (155 mph), the cyclone rapidly weakened as it moved through northeastern India, degenerating into a remnant low over the Yunnan province in western China.

On April 22, 1991, a circulation formed in the southern Bay of Bengal from a persistent area of convection, or thunderstorms, near the equator in the eastern Indian Ocean.

[2] Early on April 29, the IMD upgraded the system to a super cyclonic storm – the highest category – and estimated peak winds of 235 km/h (145 mph).

At 19:00 UTC on April 29, the cyclone made landfall about 55 km (35 mi) south of Chittagong in southeastern Bangladesh while slightly below its peak strength.

Moving through the mountainous terrain of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the cyclone quickly weakened and crossed into northeast India, where it degenerated into a remnant low-pressure area.

In a survey by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the main reason more people did not evacuate was underestimating the severity of the cyclone.

The JTWC maintained contact with the American embassy in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, assuring that it would not have to be evacuated due to a projected track farther southeast.

The JTWC tracked the cyclone as moving northeastward from Bangladesh into northern Myanmar, dissipating in western China over Yunnan province.

[3] In Northeast India, continuous rainfall and gusty winds affected Tripura and Mizoram states, causing "some loss of life" according to the IMD.

On the island of Sonodia, its inhabitants were suffering from diarrhea from drinking contaminated water, respiratory and urinary infections, scabies and various injuries with only rice for food.

[18] The United States amphibious task-force, consisting of 15 ships and 2,500 men, returning to the US after the Gulf War was diverted to the Bay of Bengal to provide relief to an estimated 1.7 million survivors.

This was part of Operation Sea Angel, one of the largest military disaster relief efforts ever carried out, with the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan and Japan also participating.

[20] A Contingency Joint Task Force under the command of Lieutenant General Henry C. Stackpole, consisting of over 400 Marines and 3,000 sailors, was subsequently sent to Bangladesh to provide food, water, and medical care to nearly two million people.

[21] The relief was delivered to the hard-hit coastal areas and low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal by helicopter, boat and amphibious craft.

The US military also provided medical and engineering teams to work with their Bangladeshi counterparts[9] and international relief organisation to treat survivors and contain an outbreak of diarrhea, caused by contaminated drinking water.

The amphibious landing ship USS St. Louis (LKA-116) delivered large quantities of intravenous solution from Japan to aid in the treatment of cyclone survivors.