Cyclone Mocha is on its way to Myanmar and Bangladesh

Fears of Tropical Cyclone Mocha are mounting in parts of Myanmar and in one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) has placed the cyclone on its highest level, Red Alert, since Thursday. About 2.7 million people in the two countries and in India could be affected, it said. Wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers per hour are expected.

Mokka is expected to make landfall on Sunday. According to calculations, Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh is on the storm’s route. About one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live in makeshift shelters in the refugee camps there. Evacuations are being prepared for hundreds of thousands, says an official at the authority hosting the Rohingya, the German news agency. People have been urged to stay away from the coasts. In view of the expected heavy rainfall, landslides were also feared.

The neighboring state of Rakhine in western Myanmar could also be hit hard. Many people, especially from the countryside, are on the run and have sought refuge in schools and monasteries, the Myanmar Now news site reports. The storm is an additional burden on the population in the former Burma: since a military coup in 2021, a junta has ruled there with an iron fist. Hundreds of thousands are displaced within their own country.

Just a few days ago, people thought of the region’s worst tropical storm to date: Cyclone Nargis is estimated to have killed nearly 140,000 people in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta 15 years ago — on May 2 and 3, 2008. The havoc was enormous. The then ruling junta blocked foreign aid for the desperate people for weeks. “Many here are afraid that Mocha can become as strong as Nargis,” says local resident Myo Myo. “We can only wait.”

(yam/sda/dpa)