Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI,MAY 15 : Touted as the second most intense cyclone to develop in the Bay of Bengal since 1982, cyclone Mocha made landfall on Sunday afternoon in Bangladesh and Myanmar’s Rakhine state near Sittwe township, tearing roofs off buildings and killing at least three people. Cyclone Mocha wreaked havoc in Myanmar as it converted streets into rivers, uprooted trees and inundated the Myanmar port city of Sittwe, according to reports.

The weather department in its latest bulletin said cyclone Mocha has weakened into a cyclonic storm over Myanmar.

“SCS “Mocha” over Myanmar weakened into a Cyclonic Storm at 0230 hours IST of 15th May over Myanmar near latitude 23.5°N and longitude 95.3°E about 450 km NNE of Sittwe (Myanmar), 260 km of north-northeast of Nyaung-U (Myanmar) and 420 km ENE of Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh),” the IMD said.

Thousands of people were evacuated to monasteries, pagodas and schools in Myanmar, seeking shelter from a powerful storm that slammed into the coast of Myanmar. Videos collected by local media showed how deep water raced through streets while wind lashed trees and pulled boards off roofs.

In this photo provided by Myanmar Military True News Information Team on Sunday, May 14, 2023, a lamppost attached with electrical transformer damaged by Cyclone Mocha lines on a street in Gwa township, Rakhine State Forecasters warned cyclone Mocha could be the most powerful storm seen in Bangladesh in nearly two decades. An alert has been sounded for West Bengal and NDRF teams have been deployed in various coastal areas.

Here are the top developments on cyclone Mocha

According to local media reports, people were trapped in low-lying areas in their homes as worried relatives outside the township appealed for rescue. Sittwe, the capital city of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, experienced heavy floods in certain areas due to cyclone Mocha, while some parts of the city were hit by fierce winds with speeds reaching up to 130 miles per hour.

Heavy rains and floods in Myanmar’s Sittwe area disrupted electricity and wi-fi connections with videos showing the tide rising dramatically and carrying debris down flooded streets, reported The BBC. A telecom tower was brought down by the high winds as the cyclone approached. Videos shared on social media also showed roofs being blown off houses and billboards flying off buildings in Yangon amid teeming rain.

Local media in Myanmar reported that the military government is preparing to send food, medicine, aid and medical personnel to the storm-hit area. After battering Rakhine, the cyclone weakened and was forecast to hit the northwestern state of Chin and the central regions on Monday, AP reported.

While a rescue team in country’s eastern Shan state said they had recovered the bodies of a couple who were buried when a landslide, local media reported that a man was crushed to death when a banyan tree fell on him in Pyin Oo Lwin township.

As cyclone Mocha brought with it heavy rain and strong winds in Bangladesh, more than 1,300 bamboo shelters in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp, have been destroyed, reported The BBC. Ahead of the cyclone’s landfall, authorities had moved around 300,000 people to safer areas before the storm hit Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar.

Disaster Management Force personnel are keeping a watch on the sea resort towns of West Bengal while preventing tourists from going to the beach on Sunday. Disaster Management Force personnel were on high alert along the coastal areas of Digha and Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur district and Bakkhali and Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas districts. Arrangements have also been made to evacuate residents of coastal areas in both districts in case of emergency.

-PTI