He cyclone mocha intensified to its maximum power this Sunday, until category 5 hurricane, As he neared the shores of bangladesh and Myanmar in he gulf of bengalfrom where hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated.
Storm registered winds of up to 259 kilometers per hourthe equivalent of a major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reported this Sunday the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Mocha threatens the precarious camps where hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees are crowded Rohingyas and causes a race against time for the transfer of people
According to the Indian Meteorological Bureau, Mocha is expected to weaken slightly before landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Sittwe, a town of 150,000 inhabitants in Myanmar.
On Saturday, the inhabitants of sittwe they congregated with their belongings and their pets in cars, trucks and other vehicles to go to higher places, according to journalists from the AFP.
“We have our grandmother with us and we must take care of her”, says Khine Min from a truck carrying his family members on the highway leading to the state capital.
Kyaw Tin, 40, explains that she cannot leave because her son is in a local hospital. “I hope this cyclone does not affect us. But if it’s our destiny, we can’t ignore it“, says.
the board of Myanmar oversees evacuations from coastal villages in the state of raijinreported the official media and Myanmar Airways International announced that all its flights to that destination were suspended until Monday.
Panic
In bangladesh Authorities took steps to evacuate Rohingya refugees from “risk zones” to community centers, while thousands of people fled the resort island of Saint Martin, located in the path of Mocha.
“This cyclone is the most powerful storm since Cyclone Sidr”, Azizur Rahman, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
In November 2007, Sidr had devastated southwestern Bangladesh, causing more than 3,000 deaths and several billion dollars in damage.
The country’s authorities have banned the Rohingya from building permanent concrete homes for fear that it will encourage them to settle permanently rather than return to their homes. Myanmarfrom where they fled in 2017.
“We live in houses made of canvas and bamboo”, laments Enam Ahmed, a refugee living in nayapara, near the border town of Teknaf. “We are terrified,” she adds.
Most of the camps are built on the side of a hill and mudslides are frequent in the area.
Also Hurricane is expected to cause rainfall that could inundate coastal villages and low rivers.
Authorities reported thousands of volunteers evacuating Rohingya from “risk areas” to more robust structures, such as schools.
“All Rohingyas in the camps are in danger”, alerted the AFP the deputy commissioner for refugees from Bangladesh, shamsud duza.
Panic also seized those close to 8,000 inhabitants of the coral island of San Martín (south), one of the main summer resorts in the country, which is in the path of the storm.
A thousand inhabitants fled, according to the authorities.
Operations at the country’s largest seaport, Chittagong, have been suspended and shipping and fishing activities have been halted.
(With information from AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com