Bangladesh and Myanmar have warned hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate as Cyclone Mocha intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm over east central Bay of Bengal. The system was 570 km north-northwest of Port Blair and 730 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazar at 11:30 pm IST on Friday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Wind speeds could be as high as 175 kilometers per hour at the time of Cyclone Mocha’s predicted landfall in the two neighbouring countries on Sunday noon. It’s also expected to cut across an area in Bangladesh, home to the world’s largest refugee camp, which contains about a million Rohingyas, according to a Bloomberg report.
The World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency, has warned of heavy rain, flooding and landslides potentially affecting “hundreds of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable people” and six million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Rohingya refugees are being evacuated from "risky areas" by thousands of volunteers in Bangladesh as the most powerful cyclone in nearly two decades hurtles towards the country and Myanmar. “Cyclone Mocha is the most powerful storm since Cyclone Sidr," Azizur Rahman, the head of Bangladesh's meteorological department, told AFP.
Read: Climate crisis may be spurring rapid intensification of cyclones, say experts
The country’s meteorological office has raised its alert warning for the cyclone to red, the highest level. Fishing and entry to beaches and coastal areas have also been restricted.
{{/usCountry}}The country’s meteorological office has raised its alert warning for the cyclone to red, the highest level. Fishing and entry to beaches and coastal areas have also been restricted.
{{/usCountry}}The very severe cyclonic storm moved nearly northeastwards with a speed of 8 km per hour during the past six hours and lay centred at 5.30am over Central Bay of Bengal near latitude 15.4°N and longitude 89.1°E, the IMD wrote in its weather update.
The cyclone would reach its peak intensity around Saturday evening, and the system is very likely to move north-northeastwards, cross southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar coasts around Sunday noon with a maximum sustained wind speed of 150-160 km per hour, the IMD said in its bulletin Saturday.
"It is likely to cross southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar coasts between Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) and Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), close to Sittwe (Myanmar) around noon of May 14, 2023 as a very severe cyclonic storm,” it wrote.
A system is considered a cyclonic storm when its 3-minute average maximum sustained wind speeds fall between 63-88 kmph. A severe cyclonic storm has winds between 89-117 km per hour, a very severe cyclonic storm between 118-165 km per hour, and an extremely severe cyclonic storm between 166-220 km per hour. Wind speeds above 221 km per hour lead to a super cyclone.
IMD has also forecast 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall in Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, southern Assam and parts of Manipur and adjoining areas on Saturday and Sunday owing to cyclone Mocha.
(With inputs from AFP, Bloomberg)