The tropical cyclone ‘Moka’ from the Bay of Bengal has now reached near the border of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Moka has become very dangerous, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned of strong winds, flooding and possible landslides in Bangladesh. The WMO said it could affect the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.
According to the India Meteorological Office, Cyclone Moka is expected to make landfall near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by Sunday (May 14) afternoon. At present, winds are blowing at a speed of 175 kilometers per hour (108 mph) in these areas.
The Met Office predicted storm surges of between two and two and a half meters (six to eight feet) in the low-lying coastal area. This is the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh, where millions of Rohingya refugees are camped. However, in 2017, most of them fled after the crackdown by the military leadership in Myanmar.
Preparing to evacuate the camp if needed
Olga Sarrado, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, said preparations were being made to partially evacuate the camp if needed. He said the agency is preparing hot food packets and jerrycans for thousands of people. The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was preparing 33 mobile medical teams and 40 ambulances as well as emergency surgery and cholera kits for the camps. At the same time, the WHO has arranged for Myanmar, among other supplies, five million water purification tablets, which is stocked for the entire monsoon season.
“If it turns into the cyclone level that we fear, then we really need to be prepared,” the WHO’s Margaret Harri told a briefing. Foreign media correspondents said residents of low-lying areas of Myanmar’s Rakhine state abandoned their homes on Friday and took refuge in a monastery in the city, with about 1,000 people flocking to the state capital, Sittwe.
Thant Zaw, 42, said when Cyclone Nargis ravaged southern Myanmar in 2008, more than 130,000 people died in the country’s worst natural disaster.
Myanmar’s junta officials are overseeing evacuations from coastal villages in the Rakhine coast, according to state media, although they did not say how many people have been moved. The junta has said any boat leaving the coast in Rakhine from Friday afternoon will face legal action. Strong winds and rains could cause inland flooding and landslides in Myanmar and Bangladesh, the UN humanitarian affairs office said on Friday.
