On Sunday, 14th May, 2023, Cyclone Mocha hit the coast of Bangladesh and Myanmar, forcing thousands of people to seek shelter in various places such as residential hotels, mosques, monasteries, pagodas, and schools. The storm caused significant damage, tearing roofs off buildings and resulting in at least six deaths in Myanmar.
According to the authorities, Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, near Sittwe township and slightly in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh, with winds of up to 209 kilometres (130 miles) per hour. While the cyclone did pass over Saint Martin’s Island in Bangladesh earlier, causing injuries and damage, it ultimately changed course and did not make landfall in the country.
How was the effect on Bangladesh?
In Cox’s Bazar, authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people in anticipation of the storm, but by early afternoon, it became clear that the storm would mostly miss the city. Nevertheless, about a dozen islanders were injured on Saint Martin’s Island, and approximately 300 homes were damaged or destroyed.
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Prior to the cyclone’s landfall, United Nations agencies and aid workers had positioned dry food and ambulances with mobile medical teams in the refugee camps in Bangladesh that house more than one million Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar.
Myanmar’s military government had also made preparations to send food, medicine, and medical personnel to the affected areas. The cyclone had weakened after hitting Rakhine and was expected to hit Chin and the central regions the following day.
How Bangladesh cared about general people and Rohingya camps?
According to reports, the main Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar was not severely affected by the cyclone. However, it may take days or weeks to determine the full extent of the damage as there are several small coastal islands where communication is difficult. Authorities had evacuated approximately 190,000 people in Cox’s Bazar and almost 100,000 in Chittagong.
Bangladeshi officials have prohibited Rohingya refugees from building permanent concrete homes for fear that they may not return to Myanmar, which they fled five years ago after a brutal military crackdown.
The camps, mostly built on hillsides, are vulnerable to landslides caused by the deluge of rain expected from the cyclone. Some Rohingya community leaders reported damage to houses and UNHCR shelters due to the high winds.
People also fled Saint Martin’s Island, a local resort area in the cyclone’s path, with some residents expressing concerns about the lack of cyclone shelters.
Damages caused to Myanmar
As night fell, it was not clear how extensive the damage in Sittwe and Saint Martin’s Island was. Before communication was cut off, local media collected videos of deep water racing through streets and wind lashing trees and pulling boards off roofs.
Rakhine-based media reported that streets were flooded, trapping people in low-lying areas in their homes as worried relatives outside the township appealed for rescue. High winds crumpled cell phone towers, cutting off communications in much of the area.
The military information office in Myanmar reported that Cyclone Mocha caused significant damage to houses, electrical transformers, cell phone towers, boats, and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. The storm also tore roofs off of sports buildings on the Coco Islands, approximately 425 kilometers (264 miles) southwest of Yangon, the largest city in the country.
Tin Nyein Oo, a volunteer in shelters located in Sittwe, reported that 4,000 residents out of 300,000 were evacuated to other cities. Over 20,000 people were taking shelter in buildings like monasteries, pagodas, and schools situated on the highlands of the city. The influx of people beyond expectations has caused a shortage of food in the Sittwe shelters, which has raised concerns for Lin Lin, the chairman of a local charitable foundation.
The U.N. Development Program representative in Myanmar, Titon Mitra, tweeted that Cyclone Mocha had made landfall, putting two million people at risk, and extensive damage and losses were expected. The U.N. was prepared to respond but required unhindered access to all affected communities.
Myanmar state television announced that the military government was preparing to send food, medicine, and medical personnel to the affected area. After battering Rakhine, the cyclone weakened and was expected to hit the northwestern state of Chin and the central regions on Monday.
Several fatalities were reported in Myanmar on the morning of May 14th due to the effects of strong winds and heavy rainfall. A rescue team from the eastern Shan state recovered the bodies of a couple buried when a landslide caused by heavy rain hit their house in Tachileik township. In Pyin Oo Lwin township in the central Mandalay region, local media reported that a man was crushed to death by a falling banyan tree.
