Cyclone Mocha to make landfall along Myanmar-Bangladesh coast today: IMD

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the extremely powerful cyclonic storm “Mocha” is expected to cross between Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar and Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu, close to Sittwe, around Sunday noon.

“The ESCS “Mocha” lay centered at 0530hrs IST of 14th May 2023 over Northeast & adjoining Eastcentral Bay of Bengal near lat 18.7N & long 91.5E. Its likely to cross between Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) & Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), close to Sittwe (Myanmar) around noon of today,” IMD tweeted.

Civil defence teams have been deployed at Bakkhali Sea Beach in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas as Cyclone ‘Mocha’ intensifies into an extremely severe cyclonic storm. They stated that members of civil defence teams are constantly alerting the public and tourists, urging them to remain vigilant and avoid going to the beach or areas near the sea.

“The condition is not good. We are continuously alerting the public and tourists to be alert and avoid coming to the beach,” Anmol Das, a civil defence official said.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the extremely powerful cyclonic storm “Mocha” is expected to cross between Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar and Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu, close to Sittwe, around Sunday noon.

“The ESCS “Mocha” lay centered at 0530hrs IST of 14th May 2023 over Northeast & adjoining Eastcentral Bay of Bengal near lat 18.7N & long 91.5E. It’s likely to cross between Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) & Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), close to Sittwe (Myanmar) around noon of today,” IMD tweeted.

Civil defence teams have been deployed at Bakkhali Sea Beach in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas as Cyclone ‘Mocha’ intensifies into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.

They stated that members of civil defence teams are constantly alerting the public and tourists, urging them to remain vigilant and avoid going to the beach or areas near the sea.

“The condition is not good. We are continuously alerting the public and tourists to be alert and avoid coming to the beach,” Anmol Das, a civil defence official said.

Earlier, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sent 8 teams and 200 rescuers to West Bengal’s Digha after cyclone ‘Mocha’ intensified into a severe storm.

“We’ve deployed 8 teams. 200 rescuers of NDRF deployed on the ground and 100 rescuers on standby,” NDRF officials said earlier.

“This is the first cyclone to threaten Myanmar this Monsoon season and there are grave concerns about the impact especially on already vulnerable and displaced communities,” Al Jazeera reported citing the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Friday.

According to the report, more than 230,000 Rakhine residents reside in displaced persons’ camps that are “located in low-lying coastal areas susceptible to storm surge.”

According to UNOCHA, approximately six million people in Rakhine and the three northwesterly states of Chin, Magway, and Sagaing are already in need of humanitarian assistance.

Authorities have issued warnings about the dangers of flooding, landslides, and a storm surge of 2 to 2.7 metres (6.6 to 8.9 feet).