Bangladesh has evacuated one million people as Cyclone Mahasen hit land bringing with it gale-force winds and heavy rain.The country has raised its storm warning to seven, on a scale with a maximum of 10.The storm has already killed at least seven people and displaced 3,881 in Sri Lanka as it tracked across the Bay of Bengal towards Bangladesh.
A boat carrying Rohingya Muslims in neighbouring Myanmar capsized at on Monday after hitting rocks off Pauktaw in Rakhine State while evacuating ahead of the storm.Official media reports said 42 people were rescued but 58 were missing.Mahasen weakened slightly overnight, but still remains a category one cyclone.
The United Nations has warned that more than eight million people could be at risk from Cyclone Mahasen, which is expected to make landfall in Bangladesh on Thursday.Bangladesh evacuated more than 700,000 people living in low-lying areas to thousands of cyclone shelters on Wednesday, while Myanmar announced plans to relocate roughly 166,000 people on its northwest coast.
However, in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine, many Muslim Rohingya made homeless by communal bloodshed last year said they were too scared to move, reflecting their deep mistrust of the authorities and of local Buddhists.The UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said earlier that the cyclone appeared to have weakened.
Cyclone bears down on Bay of Bengal
Cyclone Mahasen is bearing down on the Bay of Bengal, with thousands of people ordered to evacuate low-lying areas in Bangladesh and Burma.
The Bangladeshi authorities have raised the danger level to seven out of 10 for low-lying areas around Chittagong and the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar.But some Burmese camps are showing few signs of preparation for the storm, with aid agencies describing the official effort as “chaotic” and “inadequate”.
Cyclone Mahasen attack Bangladesh
One person was killed Thursday as Cyclone Mahasen hit Bangladesh’s southern Patuakhali coast, packing winds of up to 90 kilometres (55 miles) per hour, officials said.
“Cyclone Mahasen started crossing the Patuakhali coast at 9:00 am (0830 IST) Thursday,” Shamsuddun Ahmed, deputy director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told AFP, adding, “it is not a severe cyclone”.
“The centre is still in the Bay of Bengal (and) will hit the Chittagong coast in the afternoon,” he said, as provincial administrators said one man had drowned in a coastal district after slipping in heavy rains.
Message on One Million Flee Cyclone Mahasen
The country has raised its storm warning to seven, on a scale with a maximum of 10.The storm has already killed at least seven people and displaced 3,881 in Sri Lanka as it tracked across the Bay of Bengal towards Bangladesh.A boat carrying Rohingya Muslims in neighbouring Myanmar capsized at on Monday after hitting rocks off Pauktaw in Rakhine State while evacuating ahead of the storm.Official media reports said 42 people were rescued but 58 were missing.Mahasen weakened slightly overnight, but still remains a category one cyclone.
“The government has ordered the evacuation of about one million people from 15 coastal districts,” said the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“As per the latest storm trajectory, 4.1 million people have been identified as living in at risk areas in the districts of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.”
Created by: Asad Saimon
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