Cyclone “Mocha” hits land in Myanmar – “We can only pray”

Remnants of the powerful cyclone “Mocha” have made landfall on Myanmar’s western coast, causing the first devastation in the crisis-plagued country. The GDACS disaster warning system (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System) has put the cyclone on red and expects destructive winds of up to 259 kilometers per hour in Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh. “Mocha” had been gaining strength over the Bay of Bengal for days.

“The storm has been raging since morning and is getting stronger,” said Kan Aung, a man from Sittwe city who reports on the current situation of the storm with a local team. Sittwe and large parts of Rakhine state would be right in the storm’s route.

“Mocha” has not yet reached its highest strength. “We see trees falling and small huts being damaged, but bigger houses are still standing,” the 21-year-old told the German news agency (local time) on Sunday morning. Near the coast, telephone lines and internet connections have already been cut.

Sittwe is only about 110 miles southeast of the Bangladeshi town of Cox’s Bazar, which is also likely to be hit hard. About a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live there in makeshift shelters. Many had been evacuated beforehand. People have been urged to stay away from coasts where violent tidal waves were expected. According to GDACS, a total of up to 3.1 million people could be affected.

Many in the region fear that “Mocha” could have just as dire consequences as the death-torn cyclone “Nargis” 15 years ago. The havoc was enormous. “The families here are scared,” said Kan Aung. “The storm will probably be as powerful as ‘Nargis,’ we can only pray.” (sda/dpa)