Winds up to 195 km/h. Over a million people evacuated
The powerful cyclone ‘Mocha’ made landfall today between Burma and Bangladesh after diverting towards Burmese territory in the last few hours, and after two days of emergency preparations in both countries to avoid a catastrophe. The cyclone made landfall at 1pm local time off the coast of the Burmese state of Rajine, with winds equivalent to a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, in an area where six million people, many of the Rohingya ethnic group, are in a state of necessity.
The cyclone is bringing heavy rains and winds of up to 195 km/h, which could cause dangerous flooding on land around the Bay of Bengal. Storm surges of up to four meters could submerge villages in low-lying areas.
In Bangladesh, the island of Saint Martin and the municipality of Teknaf, in the Cox’s Bazar region, are particularly threatened, which hosts one million Rohingya refugees in one of the most overcrowded camps in the world, currently under maximum alert and surveillance by all United Nations agencies and humanitarian NGOs deployed on the ground. Over one million people have received evacuation orders in the areas affected by the passage of the cyclone.
Source-www.adnkronos.com