12 killed as cyclone Mahasen hits Bangladesh
At least 12 people were killed on Thursday as cyclonic storm ‘Mahasen’ battered Bangladesh’s southwestern coastlines, damaging thousands of thatched houses and forcing evacuation of over one million people from low-lying areas.
“All the deaths were reported from the southwestern coastlines where the cyclone hit with its maximum strength before being weakened gradually,” a Disaster Management Ministry spokesman told PTI.
Officials from coastal areas earlier reported the deaths mostly from offshore islands of southwestern Barisal region with the highest toll recorded in Barguna district, the worst affected area where the storm levelled hundreds of thatched houses and standing crops and uprooted trees.
They said the deaths were caused by drowning or the victims were hit by falling trees.
Weakens gradually
The cyclone first struck the southern Patuakhali coast with wind speed up to 90 km per hour, but it gradually weakened into a tropical storm and then dissipated, causing far less damage than had been feared.
“The cyclone gradually lost its strength as it headed towards India’s Tripura State crossing (Bangladesh’s) Bandarban (hill district) this afternoon,” Meteorology Department’s Deputy Director Shamsuddin Ahmed told PTI.
MeT office director Shah Alam earlier said the Mahasen first hit Khepupara of Patuakhali and then it proceeded towards the Noakhali and Chittagong Coast through the confluence of the Tentulia and Meghna rivers.
Disaster management officials said people have started returning home from cyclone shelters as the situation returned to normal.
Earlier, authorities had evacuated over one million people and sent them to 1,365 shelters stretching across the southern coastlines after the MeT office issued Danger Signal no 7 in a scale of 10 late on Wednesday.
A tropical storm has lashed coastal areas of Bangladesh, killing 12 people, destroying thousands of huts and forcing up to a million people to flee.
Officials had prepared for a cyclone, but the storm, called Mahasen, weakened considerably before making landfall.The storm hit Patuakhali district on Thursday with heavy rain and wind of up to 100km/h (60mph).
Early reports suggest Muslim Rohingya living in camps on both sides of the Burma border were spared the worst.
The United Nations had warned that 8.2 million people were at risk from Mahasen in Bangladesh, Burma and north-east India.
Several Indian states issued storm alerts and warned people to take precautions against severe weather conditions.
The storm weakened over the Bay of Bengal, however, and forecasters say it is likely to dissipate within 24 hours.
Loudspeakers on trucks have been issuing warnings in Cox's Bazar
Airports in Chittagong and the resort town of Cox's Bazar were closed, and Chittagong's port also remains closed, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Chittagong.The Bangladeshi authorities earlier raised the danger level to seven out of 10 for low-lying areas around Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.
The cyclone covered more than 175km in nine hours before hitting the coast, Bangladesh's Meteorological Department said.
A storm surge destroyed thousands of huts and caused flooding in coastal areas.
All schools, colleges and some hotels have been declared cyclone shelters, and most were packed overnight.
'Race against time' In Burma, there were fears for tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims living in camps in low-lying areas of Rakhine state.
They were displaced by ethnic violence last year and many were reluctant to move from the camps.
One refugee, Hla Maung, said he had lost his mother and two young daughters during the clashes between Muslims and Buddhists last year, and would not move from the camp.
"I lost everything. I don't want to go anywhere. I'll stay here. If I die, I want to die here," he said.
Burmese Planning Minister Tin Naing Thein said that in all, more than 166,000 people had been relocated.
In the event, the storm changed course and appears to have caused only minor damage in Burma.
Cyclone Mahasen earlier hit Sri Lanka, causing floods and mudslides that killed at least seven people, according to the country's Disaster Management Centre.
At least 50 Rohingya Muslims drowned on Tuesday when boats evacuating them from the path of the cyclone capsized off western Burma.