Bangladesh issues high alert as approaching cyclone Mocha turns 'very dangerous'

Bangladeshi authorities on Saturday ordered hundreds of thousands of people on southeastern coastlines to evacuate as a very dangerous tropical cyclone was expected to make landfall in the country threatening the Rohingya refugee camp the worlds largestCyclone Mocha one of the most powerful cyclones seen in Bangladesh in nearly two decades is predicted to make landfall on Sunday near the BangladeshMyanmar borderDirectives have been issued to evacuate to safety hundreds of thousands in our southeastern coastlines a disaster management ministry spokesman told PTIHis comments came after Bangladeshs Met office released its latest special weather bulletin asking the maritime ports of southeastern Chattogram and Coxs Bazar to hoist great danger signal number 8The Met Office said the very dangerous cyclonic storm Mocha continued to move to the north northwest packing winds up to 175 kilometres per hourThe World Meteorological Organisation WMO earlier on Friday feared a storm surge of 225 metres over the weekend that was likely to inundate lowlying areas of North Myanmar as well as parts of Bangladesh where flash floods and landslides were also possibleIts a very dangerous cyclone andits associated with violent windsThere will be major impacts both ahead and after landfall for potentially hundreds of thousands of the worlds most vulnerable people WMO spokesman Clare Nullis told a press briefing in GenevaMeteorologists said the storms path is set to affect Bangladeshs southeastern border district of Coxs Bazar where over a million Rohingya refugees live Most of them fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after a militaryled crackdown in Myanmar in 2017Their shelters are made of bamboo tin and polythene sheets and are vulnerable to strong winds rain and landslidesAccording to the Disaster Management Ministry more than 1500 cyclone centres have been set up with a target to evacuate 500000 people in the two districtsAlso Read Cyclone Mocha likely to move towards MyanmarBangladesh coastWere focussing on the efforts to ensure adequate food safe shelter and special care for women children and the elderly the ministrys spokesperson saidVolunteers and government workers were requesting the residents of the coastal areas to move to safety before Saturday night a government spokesman said We have stocked food for one weekUN refugee agency spokesperson Olga Sarrado said preparations were underway for a partial evacuation of the Rohingya refugee camp if neededThe agency was also preparing tens of thousands of hot meals and jerrycans she saidBangladeshi authorities have set up 55 shelters at Bhasan Char offshore island where nearly 30000 of the Rohingya refugees have been relocated from the mainlandBangladesh exclusively dedicated the Bhasan Char to the Rohingyas though most of them live in the mainland of Coxs Bazar adjacent to Myanmar bordersMany residents along with all the tourists have left St Martins Island near Coxs Bazar in the Bay of BengalThe authorities suspended inland river transport across Bangladesh from Friday night and flight operations at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram from Saturday morningThe government postponed the Secondary School Certificate exams slated for Sunday under Chattogram Barishal Cumilla technical and madrasa boardsSundays exams at the National University have also been postponed The Power energy and mineral resources ministry said it halted supplying LNG from two floating terminals in Coxs BazarThe Chattogram port has been put on the highest alert The docked ships are being moved to the outer anchorageThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever