Mocha may turn into a super cyclone

Mocha may turn into a cyclonic storm today and it may make landfall in Cox's Bazar and Myanmar coasts on Sunday, the Met office has said.

The meteorological departments in Bangladesh and India forecast that Mocha will further intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by this morning and a very severe cyclonic storm by midnight.

The government has advised farmers in the coastal region to harvest ripe paddy, mango and other farm produce to avoid damage by the cyclone.

The government also cancelled leaves and holidays of civil servants in those areas until further notice.

Enamur Rahman, state minister for disaster management, yesterday said, "It may turn into a super cyclone and the windspeed may be 180 to 200 kilometres per hour.

"The Saint Martin's and low-lying areas of Teknaf are at high risk. The residents will be taken to safer places," he told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on preparedness at the ministry.

In a special bulletin issued around 10:00pm, Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the cyclone was centred about 1,420km south of Chattogram port, 1,340km south of the Cox's Bazar, 1,400km south-southeast of Mongla Port, and 1,360km south-southeast of Payra Port.

Maritime ports in Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist distant cautionary Signal-1, which means Mocha has windspeed of at least 61kmph.

"Fishing boats and trawlers over north bay and deep sea have been advised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution," read the bulletin.

The Indian Met Department said Mocha is likely to trigger a tidal surge with a height of 1.5 to 2.0 metres, risking inundation of low-lying areas of South East Bangladesh coasts and North Myanmar during landfall.

Thousands of people living along the coastline in Patuakhali are in fear, especially since large parts of embankments, which protect villages at such times, remain damaged.  

A tidal surge may cause floods in vast areas, said locals.

However, the state minister said, the damage in other areas may not be severe as it will hit the hilly area.

State minister Enamur said the ministry had allocated Tk 20 lakh for management of cyclone shelters in Cox's Bazar and Chattogram.

About 14 tonnes of dry cake and toasts, and 200 tonnes of rice had been allocated for the shelters.