Cyclone Mocha will cross the Bangladesh coasts by 3:00 pm today, Sunday, said state minister for disaster management and relief Enamur Rahman.
He was talking to newspersons at his secretariat office in the noon.
Enamur Rahman said the gust front of the cyclone Mocha started crossing the coasts of Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf, Saint Martin’s island and Sittwe of Myanmar at around 6:00 in the morning. Currently the wind speed is from 50-68 kph. There is no apprehension of tidal surge as low tide has emerged from the morning, added the state minister.
Speaking at the media conference, the state minister said the cyclone was crossing the Bangladesh and Myanmar coasts. But the speed of wind within 78 kilometres of the cyclone is between 200 and 215 kph. There will be some damage if the cyclone crosses the coast at this speed.
Mentioning that the government has taken all kinds of preparations, Enamur Rahman said some 8,500 people have taken shelter at 37 shelter centres in Saint Martin’s. Besides, more than 200,000 people in 576 shelter centres in Cox’s Bazar and 500,000 people in 1024 centres in Chattogram have taken shelter. Overall, the situation is under control, the state minister added.
Responding to question on why they talked about “super cyclone” on Saturday and changed that later, Enamur Rahman said, “It was said then about the super cyclone based on forecast but that was withdrawn later after watching the wind speed. The wind speed remains within 220 if it is super cyclone, but that did not happen.”
The state minister also claimed that the preparation was the best this time since his taking charge of the disaster management ministry. There was no negligence or mistake, he also claimed.