Cyclone Mocha kills 9 in Bangladesh, Myanmar

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The deadly Cyclone Mocha that surged through the coast between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu township in Myanmar on Sunday claimed at least nine lives in both neighboring countries, accounting to reports.

At least six people were reported dead across Myanmar while three were killed on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh.

Some 13,000 houses in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh were destroyed by Cyclone Mocha. Of them, 2,522 were completely destroyed, according to the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry of Bangladesh.

The government evacuated some 750,000 people ahead of the storm, including 334,000 people in Cox’s Bazar, the ministry added.

Three salt laborers in Moheshkhali Island on the southeast coast of Cox’s Bazar were killed by Cyclone Mocha on Sunday night, local officials confirmed to Anadolu.

“The bodies of the three workers were recovered from different places on the island. Furthermore, 11 workers hit by the cyclone have been admitted to hospitals,” Hoanak Union Council Chairman Mir Kashem Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury said that a group of 40-50 workers was busy working in the salt field close to the coast in the Bay of Bengal on Sunday during the landfall of Cyclone Mocha.

The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Additional Commissioner (RRRC) in Bangladesh, Md Shamsuddoha, told Anadolu that at least 278 shelters were completely damaged, while 2,500 shelters were partially damaged by Mocha.

“We are working to repair the damage and ensure humanitarian support to the affected people,” he added.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims forcibly displaced from Myanmar live in 33 congested refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, with another 30,000 relocated to Bhasan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal. Most of the refugees fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine, a state on the western coast of Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Meanwhile, thousands of people were stranded after several villages in Myanmar’s Rakhine State were badly hit by Cyclone Mocha.

The affected communities are located across Sittwe, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, and Minbya townships, according to Myanmar Now news.

Nearly 90% of the houses in the town of Kyauktaw, 60 miles (over 96 kilometers) north of the Rakhine State’s capital Sittwe, were destroyed after the storm made landfall on Sunday afternoon, it added.

At least three camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), housing more than 1,500 people, were also hit, according to the news.

Communications services were also cut off in Sittwe, according to reports.

The UN said urgent funds are needed to facilitate a full-scale response to the impacts of the cyclone and subsequent flooding.

Heavy rains, storms, and strong winds have been recorded across the affected areas throughout the day with flooding in low-lying areas of Rakhine, particularly in and around Sittwe, according to the UN.