Are certain trees more susceptible or more resistant to being toppled by high winds? 

The vulnerability of trees to severe weather depends on many variables, including the tree's stage of growth, its position relative to other trees and landscape features, soil conditions and previous precipitation, and previous damage. But studies done after severe storms have identified trees with better or worse chances of survival, often because of characteristics like the ratio of height to the diameter at the base or the depth of the root system.

At or near the top of many lists of the fittest is the live oak. A 1982 study by the Forest Service listed runners-up like bald cyprus, black gum, sweet gum and the Southern red oak. At the bottom of that list are the box elder, hickory, red maple and yellow poplar.

Perhaps it is time we in India undertake such a study ? There would be fewer cases of trees uprooted and lives lost!