by Hrithik Mondal, Kumar Kunal, Cyclone Mocha likely to make landfall The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that it is likely to occur on Sunday afternoon and over Kyukpyu in Myanmar and Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh. According to meteorologists, the wind speed in the Bay of Bengal could reach up to 200 kmph and an alert has been issued for Cox’s Bazar port, Chattagram and Payra port in Bangladesh.
cyclone mocha One of the most powerful cyclones to hit Bangladesh coast in nearly two decades, news agency PTI reported. “Cyclone Mocha is the most powerful storm since Cyclone Sidr,” Azizur Rahman, head of Bangladesh’s meteorological department, told AFP.
Tropical cyclonic storm Mocha was centered 410 km off Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar coastal region.
“ESCS “MOCHA” lay centered at 0530 hrs IST on 14th May 2023 and lay centered over east central Bay of Bengal near 18.7 North latitude and 91.5 East latitude. Between Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) and Kyawpyu (Myanmar) near Sittwe Very likely to cross. (Myanmar) around noon today,” the IMD said on Twitter.
It is expected to land on Sunday morning between Cox’s Bazar, where some one million Rohingya refugees live in camps made largely of temporary shelters, and Sittwe on Myanmar’s western Rakhine coast.
According to the IMD, Cyclone Mocha was packing winds of up to 220 kmph, equivalent to a category four storm.
Here are the top 5 points on Cyclone Mocha
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cyclone mocha, Currently in the Bay of Bengal, heading towards Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar and Myanmar Coast until Sunday afternoon. At the center of the cyclone, which is 600 km off the coast of Cox’s Bazar, the maximum sustained wind speed is 170 kmph gusting to 190 kmph.
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Bangladesh moved Rohingya refugees from “risky areas” to community centers on Saturday as hundreds fled an island. “Directions have been issued to evacuate millions of people to safety along our southeast seaboard.” Disaster Management Ministry spokesperson told PTI.
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Weather experts predict that Cyclone Mocha could bring a deluge of rain, which could trigger landslides. The storm is also predicted to spawn a storm surge up to four meters (13 ft) high, which could inundate low-lying areas and villages along the river.
Operations were suspended in Bangladesh’s largest port – Chittagong. Boat transport and fishing were also halted.
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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “Cyclone ‘Mocha’ is coming. We have kept cyclone centers and made all kinds of preparations to deal with it.” Bangladeshi authorities have set up 55 shelters on the Bhasan Char offshore island, where some 30,000 Rohingya refugees have been relocated from the mainland.
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State media reported that Myanmar junta officials were monitoring evacuations from villages near the Rakhine coast. Myanmar Airways International said all its flights to Rakhine state had been suspended until Monday, AFP reported. The Myanmar Red Cross Society said it was “preparing for a major emergency response.”
(with inputs from agencies)