Cyclone Mahasen makes landfall in S. Bangladesh
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E-mail Xinhua, May 16, 2013
Cyclone "Mahasen" made landfall in Bangladesh's extreme southeastern Patuakhali district Thursday morning as a category 1 storm with top wind speeds of 100 kph, where authorities warned that the slow-moving storm could hit inland areas hard as well as coastlines.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) reported, "strong winds and a dangerous storm surge" along the coast after the storm came ashore at 7:00 a.m. local time. A second landfall was expected by Thursday afternoon.
No casualties have been reported so far.
Amitabh Sarkar, deputy commissioner or administration chief in Patuakhali district, some 204 km south of capital Dhaka, told Xinhua Wednesday that "Over 100,000 people will be evacuated from the remote islands of the district by Wednesday evening."
In its latest special bulletin, BMD said the cyclone, at about 9:00 a.m. Thursday, was cantered about 435 km southwest of the country's premier Chittagong seaport (some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka), 385 km southwest of Cox's Bazaar seaport (some 391 km southeast of Dhaka), and 320 km south of Mongla port (some 178 km south of Dhaka).
It said the cyclonic storm started crossing the coast near Patuakhali at about 7:00 a.m.. The coast grazing cyclone is likely to move northeastward further and may cross Chittagong- Cox's Bazar coast by noon of Thursday.
According to BMD bulletin, under the influence of the storm, the low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Borguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barisal, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Bagherhat, Khulna, Satkhira and their offshore islands and chars are likely to be inundated by storm surge of 8-10 feet height above normal astronomical tide.
The danger signal No. 7 has been sounded for all the districts and ports where fishing boats, trawlers and maritime vessels over the north bay have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice.
Due to very heavy rainfall, BMD said landslide may occur at places over the hilly regions of Chittagong division.
Bangladesh Wednesday ordered evacuation of about 1 million people from its coastlines as the cyclonic storm "Mahasen" in the Bay of Bengal is poised to cross the country's southern coast in the early hours of Thursday.
Bangladesh's Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief had earlier said some 50,000 volunteers are get ready for emergency duties at any moment with support of all other government agencies.
Television footage showed widespread flooding in coastal areas of Cox's Bazaar, Chittagong and Patuakhali and 12 other districts where hundreds of thousands of people have also reportedly been evacuated from their homes.
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