DHAKA
\nVolunteers in Bangladesh\u2019s coastal districts were using loudspeakers to urge people to seek shelter on Saturday as the delta nation braced for an extremely severe cyclone, which is expected to slam ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the next 24 hours.
\nUN agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.
\nThe camps at Cox\u2019s Bazar are on the path of Cyclone Mocha, which was moving toward the coasts of southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar with wind speeds of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour and gusts up to 220 kph (136 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said. It\u2019s projected to make landfall on Sunday evening between Cox\u2019s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.
\nBangladesh, with more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The navy said it\u2019s keeping ready 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters for rescue and relief operations.
\nSpeaking from Cox\u2019s Bazar, the International Organization of Migration\u2019s deputy chief of mission, Nihan Erdogan, said Bangladesh put in place a massive preparedness plan.
\nHe said his agency had trained 100 volunteers in each of the 17 refugee camps on how to alert rescuers using flag warning signals when heavy rains, floods and strong winds lash the region. \u201cEmergency shelter materials and hygiene kits are readily available, and personal protective gear has been provided to all volunteers.\u201d
\nThe World Health Organization put 40 ambulances and 33 mobile medical teams on standby at Cox\u2019s Bazar, the agency\u2019s spokesperson Margaret Harris said.
\nAuthorities in Bangladesh said heavy rains from the cyclone could trigger landslides in Chattogram and Cox\u2019s Bazar and three other hilly districts \u2014 Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.
\nBangladesh, which is prone to natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, issued the highest danger signal for Cox\u2019s Bazar. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department warned the cyclone could cause severe damage to the lives and properties in eight coastal districts.
\nMizanur Rahman, director general of the Department of the Disaster Management, said they asked the local authorities in 20 districts and sub-districts to make swift preparations. He said they were particularly concerned about a small coral island called Saint Martins in the Bay of Bengal, where efforts were underway to protect thousands of inhabitants.
\nMyanmar said in its weather bulletin that the cyclone was moving toward the coast of Rakhine state near Sittwe, which was put under the highest weather alert.
\nThe World Food Program said it prepositioned enough food to cover the needs of more than 400,000 people in Rakhine and neighboring areas for one month.
\n\u201cWe are preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best. Cyclone Mocha is heading to areas burdened by conflict, poverty, and weak community resilience,\u201d said WFP\u2019s Myanmar deputy director, Sheela Matthew. \u201cMany of the people most likely to be affected are already reliant on regular humanitarian assistance from WFP. They simply cannot afford another disaster.\u201d
\nIn May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River Delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.
\nRoxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.
\nThe state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Friday that thousands of people living along the western coast of Rakhine state were evacuated.
\nBoth Indian and Bangladesh authorities said they were expecting heavy to very heavy rainfall in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea, parts of India\u2019s remote northeast, and across Bangladesh from Saturday night.
\nClimate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days, such as Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020, which continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation. \u201cAs long as oceans are warm and winds are favorable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period,\u201d Koll said.
\nCyclones are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, especially if they affect densely populated coastal regions in South Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DHAKA Volunteers in Bangladesh\u2019s coastal districts were using loudspeakers to urge people to seek shelter on Saturday as the delta nation braced for an extremely severe cyclone, which is expected to slam ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the next 24 hours. UN agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-331019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n