Ajit Karn
On Monday, rescuers evacuated approximately 1,000 people stranded by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet) deep along the western coast of Myanmar, after a powerful cyclone Mocha caused hundreds of injuries and severed communications. In one of Asia’s least developed nations, six fatalities have been reported, but the true impact is not yet known.
A leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association in Sittwe reported that more than 700 of the approximately 20,000 people who were sheltering in monasteries, pagodas, and schools on the highlands of Sittwe township were injured by strong gusts. He requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the authorities in the military-run nation.
As Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state on Sunday afternoon, seawater rushed into more than ten low-lying districts close to the coast, he reported. As the wind and storm surge precluded immediate rescue, residents fled to roofs and upper floors.
“The storm abated slightly after 4 p.m. yesterday, but the water did not recede. The majority of them spent the entire night perched on their homes’ roofs and other elevated locations. “The wind blew all night,” the commander of the rescue team reported.
Monday evening, water levels in flooded areas were approximately 1.5 meters (five feet) high, but rescues were being conducted as the wind died down and the sun ascended. He requested that civil society organizations and authorities send aid and assist with the evacuation of residents.
Myanmar media and rescue agencies have reported six fatalities. In neighboring Bangladesh, which was spared the predicted direct impact, several injuries were reported.
In addition to the heavy rainfall, After the cyclone, over 230 homes were damaged in Mizoram. Mocha Mocha made landfall near the township of Sittwe with winds of up to 209 kilometers per hour, according to the Myanmar Meteorological Department. The India Meteorological Department reported that by Monday midday, it had weakened to a tropical depression.
The State Administration Council issued disaster declarations for seventeen municipalities in the state of Rakhine.
High winds collapsed cell phone towers, but local media captured footage of deep water rushing through streets and wind ripping off roofs before communications were lost.
The military information office of Myanmar reported that houses and electrical transformers in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships were damaged by the typhoon. It was reported that roofs had been torn off buildings on the Coco Islands, located approximately 425 kilometers (264 miles) southwest of Yangon, the main city in Myanmar.
Volunteers previously stated that shelters in Sittwe lacked sufficient food due to the influx of more individuals seeking assistance.
Mocha largely avoided the Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar, which had been anticipated to be in its path. Authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of individuals prior to the cyclone’s eastward turn.
On Saint Martin’s Island and Teknaf in the Cox’s Bazar district, approximately 2,000 dwellings were destroyed and 10,000 others were damaged, according to a government official from Bangladesh, Enamur Rahman.
He stated there were no reported fatalities.
The Prothom Alo newspaper reported that on Saint Martin’s Island, approximately a dozen persons were injured.
United Nations agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh had prepositioned tons of dried food and dozens of ambulances in refugee camps housing over one million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis ravaged the Irrawaddy River delta region with a storm surge that devastated populated areas. At least 138,000 individuals perished, and tens of thousands of dwellings and other structures were destroyed.
Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, stated that cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are intensifying more rapidly due in part to global warming.
According to climate scientists, cyclones can now maintain their energy for several days. In eastern India in 2020, Cyclone Amphan continued to move over land as a powerful cyclone and caused extensive devastation.
“As long as the oceans are warm and the winds are favorable, cyclones will maintain their intensity for a longer period of time,” Koll explained.
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When they strike densely populated coastal areas, tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes or typhoons in other regions, are among the world’s most devastating natural disasters.
