Cyclone Mocha is a very strong cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. It is expected to hit Myanmar and Bangladesh on Sunday. It has winds of up to 240 km per hour, which makes it a Super Cyclone. It will likely cause rain and landslides and tidal surges from 8 to 12 feet beyond the normal tide. The cyclone could disrupt electricity and gas supplies and cause water stagnation in coastal areas.
Many people have been evacuated in Myanmar and Bangladesh. In Cox’s Bazar where over a million Rohingya refugees live, Bangladeshi authorities moved 190,000 people to safety. In Myanmar, at least 10,000 people have left their homes for safer areas. The World Food Programme is preparing food and relief supplies that could help more than 400,000 people in Rakhine and surrounding areas for a month.
Cyclone Mocha is the most powerful storm since Cyclone Sidr, that hit Bangladesh’s southern coast in November 2007 and killed more than 3,000 people.
