As the cyclonic storm Hamoon heads towards Chottagram and Payra ports, Cox’s Bazar and the adjoining areas, the government launched a massive evacuation programme to protect the lives of people in 11 coastal districts.
Enamur Rahman, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief told Bangladesh Post that the government has taken a comprehensive measure mobilizing all its resources to minimize damages by the impact of the cyclone.
‘We expect the cyclone to make landfall between 10 at night (Tuesday) and 10 in the morning on Wednesday. We plan to evacuate around 15 lakh people living in the disaster-prone coastal belt, including islands,’ the minister said.
The minister who termed the cyclone – ‘very severe cyclone’ gave the prediction of the cyclone’s landfall based on the present (at 5:45 pm on Tuesday) speed and direction. The eye of the cyclone was located some 50 kms from coast of Chottagram at the time of writing this news at 8pm on Tuesday.
Asked about the ongoing preparations, the minister said, ‘We mobilized navy, police, army, air force, red crescent, coast guard, volunteers, NGO activists and the local administration to shift people to safety – especially to the cyclone shelters where we have dry food and other relief materials ready.’
Earlier, the cyclone intensified from the deep depression in Northwest Bay of Bengal. Weather forecast said the cyclone may cause havoc with the high wind speed and high tides in the sea.
Earlier, the maritime ports of Chattogram and Payra Port had been advised to hoist danger Signal 7 while Cox's Bazar and Mongla ports have been asked to hoist danger Signals 6 and 5 respectively as the cyclonic storm is moving towards the Bangladesh coast.
The Chottagram Port Authority (CPA) issued Alert 3, the second highest security warning of the port, Tuesday morning after the met office advised ports to hoist danger signal 7 due to the cyclonic storm.
CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk said that as per the alert, they started vacating vessels from the jetties and outer anchorage areas as safety measures.
According to the CPA's Cyclone Disaster Preparedness and Post Cyclone Rehabilitation Plan-1992, Alert-3 is announced when storm warning danger signal is number 5, 6 and 7 in order to take adequate precaution when the port is directly under threat of a cyclonic storm.
The latest weather report shows that the ‘periphery’ of the cyclone at 7:50pm hit Bangladesh near the Chottagram and Payra Bandar on Tuesday while swirling speed of the periphery of the storm reached a maximum 130 km per hour creating high tides in the sea.
All residents, fishermen and others have been shifted to safer places from low lying places in the coastal areas. Hundreds of vessels were moved to safer places from the estuary in Karnaphuly River while the aircrafts at the Chottagram and Cox’s Bazar airports were shifted elsewhere much earlier on Tuesday.
Reports sent from Cox's Bazar's say that thousands of tourists were asked to leave and take shelters while those in more vulnerable areas like in Hatiya, Urirchar, Sandwip, Kutubdia, Nijhumdwip, Manpura and other smaller islands, were shifted by boats much earlier Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, as wind speed picked up local administration in Chottagram Hill Tracts feared landslides which may affect residents living in make-shift shanties adjacent to the hills.