Dhaka, May 14 Cyclone Mocha, of the “very severe” category, made landfall and began to cause damage this Sunday with winds of more than 100 kilometers per hour in the coastal area of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and northern Burma (Myanmar).
Landfall has started on the northwest coast of Myanmar and the small Bangladeshi island of Saint Martin in the Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported.
“The storm is now here in full swing. Many houses have been blown up and coconut trees have fallen. It is also raining with a strong wind,” Rashid Ahmed, a resident of the village of Galachipa on the island of Saint Martin in Bangladesh, told EFE by phone.
Rashid said there was still no tidal wave as officials feared.
“Heavy rains along with gale are occurring in northern Myanmar and Bangladesh,” the IMD said in its latest bulletin.
The first images of Sittwe show damaged houses, and flooded streets dragging objects and debris.
The storm “has hit the coast of Myanmar and continues to move inland. Gusty winds are uprooting trees and damage is already reported in some areas. The UN and its humanitarian partners stand ready to provide assistance to those affected,” the Office reported. of Humanitarian Coordination of the UN in Burma.
At 1:00 p.m. Bangladesh time (7:30 GMT) the wind speed over San Martin Island was more than 100 kilometers per hour, meteorologist Tariful Newaz from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department told EFE.
“So, we can say that the eye was landing at that time,” he added.
According to the specialist, the eye of the storm will complete the crossing at 3:00 p.m. in Bangladesh (9:30 a.m. GMT).
The cyclone has a diameter of more than 500 kilometers, and its impact will be felt in many areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar, under high alert, according to preliminary estimates.
The impact on the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, with almost a million people living in vulnerable conditions, is one of the main concerns of humanitarian agencies.
More than 230,000 people have been evacuated to different shelters in the district as of 12:00 noon on Sunday (6:00 GMT), not including Rohingya refugees, the control room officer in the Cox’s Bazar district, Mainuddin Milki, told EFE. .
The refugees from that Burmese minority, of Bengali ethnicity and Muslim faith, have been relocated to safer areas within the camp itself, in schools, offices and other facilities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has 40 ambulances and 33 mobile medical teams on standby at Cox’s Bazar.
