The cyclone Mocha, which had been feared to hit Bangladesh severely, fortunately moved towards Mynmar on Sunday evening without causing any massive harms and disaster in Bangladesh.
The extreme level cyclone finally moved towards Myanmar in the evening after crossing Bangladesh's coastal areas, including Cox’sbazar, said officials of the Bangladesh Meteorologist Department.
They said the very severe cyclonic storm Mocha finally made a full landfall close to north of Beach Sittwe in Myanmar.
According to officials, alongside stormy wind, light to moderate rain remained continued until midnight with scattered heavy rainfall in the coastal area of Bangladesh.
The cyclone could not cause severe damages as the government have taken all necessary measures before the storm hit the coastal areas. Thousands of people were evacuated from the danger zones while around eight lakhs of people were taken to shelter centres.
Besides, all the ministries, directorates and departments remained prepared.
Weather experts said, a second miracle happened when the cyclone started making landfall after 6:am on Sunday. At the same time, the low tide started in the morning while after 12:00pm high tides were witnessed. The bottom half of the cyclone started to cross Saint Martin's Island in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Myanmar.
This is why heavy rain and strong winds were reported from Saint Martin's Island, officials said.
Another meteorologist said the cyclone began crossing the coastal areas around 6:am on Sunday, and it completely crossed Bangladesh's coastal areas in the evening.
Sources, however, said that although there was no massive disaster, Saint Martin's Island, Teknaf Sadar and several other coastal areas have been affected by strong winds which uprooted trees and blown away roofs of makeshift houses.
Locals were seen removing fallen trees from the roads, as volunteers worked to relocate people to shelters from different parts of the city.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) reported that Bangladesh was no longer under the primary threat of the very severe cyclonic storm Mocha.
The BMD stated the cyclone would mainly hit Myanmar, shifting its trajectory towards the south.
The officials clarified that the cyclone would traverse the mainland of Bangladesh, passing through the south at a distance of 50 to 60 kilometres from Teknaf.
According to sources in Cox’s Bazar, the Cyclone Mocha damaged 10,000 houses in Cox's Bazar. Among those, 1,200 houses were damaged in Saint Martin of Teknaf.
Referring to this information on Sunday afternoon, Deputy Commissioner Md Shaheen Imran said that Mocha's rampage came down after 7:00pm.
He said around 250,000 people left shelter centres and returned to their own homes in the evening after the situation developed.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman on Sunday said over 7.5 lakh people had taken shelter in the cyclone centres in the country's southeastern coastal region as the met had office issued the highest warning centering the very severe cyclone Mocha.
"This year's preparation and arrangement were very good. More than 7.5 lakh people went to shelter centres due to Mocha," he said while talking to journalists at his ministry office in the Secretariat.
About 5 lakh people had taken shelter at 1,024 cyclone centres in Chattogram, over two lakh people to 576 cyclone centres in Cox's Bazar and 8,500 people of St. Martin at 37 shelter centres, said Enamur.
"Besides, people of Kutubdia, Sandwip and some parts of Noakhali were taken to safe shelter. So far, the situation is under our control. No damage was reported. After all, we have managed to take about 7.5 lakh people to cyclone centres," he added.
All kinds of preparations, including preparing shelter centres have been taken. Sufficient amount of dry food, fresh water, water purification tablets and cash money have been sent, he said, adding that besides, the sea beaches were evacuated after issuing the great danger signal.
"We have sent Taka 20 lakh in cash, 200 metric tons of rice, 14 metric tons of dry cake and toast. In addition, adequate supplies of water, food, oral saline were also sent to the coastal areas and medical teams are on duty there," Enamur said.
The people, who were at risk of landslides, were also taken to shelter centres, he said, adding, "It was possible to take proper preparation as we got more time. I started work on May 7".
Stating that all preparations have been taken to tackle the aftermath of the cyclone, the state minister said, "I have come to know that there was no water in a shelter center in Cox's Bazar. Mineral water was provided there. Conditions in all shelter centres are satisfactory".
