As Cyclone Mocha intensifies and winds are getting stronger, Saint Martin's, the one and only coral island of Bangladesh, may go temporarily underwater, according to the head of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), reported Dhaka Tribune.
"The ESCS "Mocha" lay centered at 0530hrs IST of 14th May 2023 over Northeast & adjoining Eastcentral Bay of Bengal near lat 18.7N & long 91.5E. Its likely to cross between Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) & Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), close to Sittwe (Myanmar) around noon of today," IMD twee
"The condition is not good. We are continuously alerting the public and tourists to be alert and avoid coming to the beach," Anmol Das, a civil defence official said.
Ahead of Cyclone Mocha which is predicted to make landfall on Sunday (May 14) with gusts of up to 175 km/h (108 mph), thousands of people have been getting ready to get evacuated from the region, Al Jazeera reported.
Cyclone Mocha intensified into a "very severe" cyclonic storm today over the Central and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal and moved nearly north-northeastwards, officials said on Friday.
However, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 8 teams and 200 rescuers in West Bengal's Digha after warnings about cyclone 'Mocha' of intensifying into a severe storm.
"#CycloneMocha will convert into a severe storm on May 12 & a very severe cyclone on May 14, as per the predictions," said Gurminder Singh, Commandant, 2nd Battalion, NDRF.
In this regard, the official media handle of the Indian Meteorological Department took to Twitter and said, "Cyclonic storm Mocha over the southeast Bay of Bengal about 510 km west-southwest of Port Blair, 1190 km south-southwest of Coxs Bazar (Bangladesh). To intensify into a severe cycloni
"The deep depression over southeast Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 8 kmph during past 6 hours, intensified into a cyclonic storm "Mocha" pronounced as "Mokha" and lay centred at 0530 hours IST of 11th May 2023 over the same region near latitude 11.2°N and longi
"Indian Coast Guard is geared up for response to Cyclonic storm 'Mocha' as indicated by IMD. Weather update is being shared with fisheries and civil administration. ICG units in West Bengal and Odisha were placed on high alert and standby to meet any eventuality," read the release.