Thousands take shelter as cyclone approaches Bangladesh
More than 600,000 coastal villagers took shelter inland today as a cyclone rapidly approached Bangladesh’s south-western shores, spawning cold drizzles, strong winds and high waves, a weather official said.
Tropical cyclone Sidr – centred in the Bay of Bengal some 258 miles south of Mongla port at noon (6am Irish time) – was expected to make landfall late today along the Khulna-Barisal coast, said Shahjahan Alam, an official at the Meteorological Department in the capital, Dhaka.
“It is likely to intensify and move in a northerly direction, and may cross the Khulna-Barisal coast by Thursday evening,” the Meteorological Department warned in a special bulletin.
The coastal area borders eastern India and is famous for the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, a world heritage site that is home to rare Royal Bengal Tigers.
The cyclone, which began brewing Tuesday in the Bay of Bengal, was producing winds of up to 137 miles per hour, Alam said in Dhaka, 110 miles north of Barisal town.
The cyclone was also likely to trigger tidal surges as high as 20 feet that threatened to flood low-lying areas in 15 coastal districts, he added.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department issued a bulletin Wednesday putting the country’s three major maritime ports – Chittagong, Mongla and Cox’s Bazar - on the highest level of alert.
Volunteers helped evacuate thousands of people Wednesday from coastal areas and the Meteorological Department warned ships to return to shore as the cyclone roared offshore.
Thousands of villagers moved to cyclone shelters – concrete buildings on raised pilings, or sought refuge inside “mud forts” – mud walls built along the coast to resist tidal surges. Schools, mosques and other public buildings were also turned into makeshift shelters.
Some 3.2 million people were expected to be evacuated by late today, Ali Imam Majumder, a senior government official told reporters in Dhaka.
At least 620,000 people had so far moved into official shelters, where they were being given emergency rations, he added.
“We have taken all precautions,” Majumder said, adding that rescue and medical teams were on standby to assist possible cyclone victims.
