Myanmar: Cyclone Mocha floods homes, cuts communications; almost 700 injured

After a strong cyclone injured hundreds and knocked off communications, rescuers began evacuating nearly 1,000 people early on Monday along the western Myanmar coast where they were caught in seawater that was 3.6 metres (12 feet) deep. In one of Asia’s least developed nations, damage and at least five fatalities had been reported, although the full extent of the effects was yet unclear.

According to a leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association in Sittwe, more than 700 of the 20,000 people who were seeking shelter in stronger structures on the highlands of Sittwe township, including temples, pagodas, and schools, were hurt by the strong winds. He requested anonymity out of concern for possible retaliation from the military-run government.

Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state on Sunday afternoon, and according to him, seawater rushed into more than ten low-lying wards close to the shore. Residents took to the roofs and upper stories as the wind and storm surge impeded speedy rescue.

“After 4 p.m. yesterday, the storm weakened a bit, but the water did not fall back. Most of them sat on the roof and at the high places of their houses the whole night. The wind blew all night,” the rescue group leader said.

Water was still about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high in flooded areas Monday morning, but rescues were being made as the wind calmed and the sun rose in the sky. He asked civil society organizations and authorities to send aid and help evacuate residents.

At least five deaths have been reported in Myanmar by local media and rescue groups. Several injuries were reported in neighbouring Bangladesh, which was spared the predicted direct hit.

Mocha made landfall near Sittwe township with winds blowing up to 209 kilometres (130 miles) per hour, Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said. By Monday morning, it was downgraded from its severe status and was steadily weakening over land, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The State Administration Council issued disaster declarations for 17 townships in Rakhine state.

High winds crumpled cell phone towers, but in videos collected by local media before communications were lost, deep water raced through streets and wind blew off roofs.

Myanmar’s military information office said the storm had damaged houses and electrical transformers in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said roofs were torn off buildings on the Coco Islands, about 425 kilometres (264 miles) southwest of the country’s largest city, Yangon.

Volunteers previously said shelters in Sittwe did not have enough food after more people arrived there seeking help.

Mocha largely spared the Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar, which initially had been in the storm’s predicted path. Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the cyclone veered east.

About a dozen people were injured on Saint Martin’s Island, while some 300 homes were either destroyed or damaged, leading Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo reported.

UN agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh had prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances in the refugee camps that house more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River Delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.

Climate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days. Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020 continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation.

“As long as oceans are warm and winds are favourable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period,” Koll said.

Tropical cyclones, which are called hurricanes or typhoons in other regions, are among the world’s most devastating natural disasters when they hit densely populated coastal areas.

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