Sharjah24 – Reuters: Authorities in Bangladesh were evacuating hundreds of thousands of people on Monday before Cyclone Sitrang made landfall amid fears of heavy damage to houses and crops and disruption to road and power links.
Approaching from the Bay of Bengal, Sitrang was expected to hit the southern coast near the Khepupara area of the Barishal-Chittaging early on Tuesday, with winds gusting up to 88 km (55 miles) per hour, the weather office said.
It forecast a storm surge of up to three meters (10 feet) that could swamp mud dwellings along the coast, uproot communication towers and inundate roads.
All the people from the dangerous areas along the coastal belt were being evacuated to safer places, said Enamur Rahman, the junior minister for disaster management.
More than 7,000 cyclone shelters were set up to accommodate three million people, he said.
The coastal districts would experience storm tides and heavy rain as the tip of the cyclone started crossing the coast, meteorologist Monwar Hossain said.
A woman was killed by a falling tree in southwestern Narail district, local police said.
Aid workers have stockpiled emergency items such as food, tarpaulins and water purification tablets in refugee camps housing more than a million Rohingya in flimsy shelters in Cox's Bazar.
Officials also advised nearly 33,000 Rohingya refugees, moved from camps to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, to stay indoors.
Heavy rain fell on the streets of the capital Dhaka, with some roads inundated with water, disrupting commuters.
Authorities in India's West Bengal were also preparing to face the cyclone. A heavy rainfall alert has been issued for coastal areas of West Bengal.
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