'Very severe' cyclone Mocha hits Myanmar-Bangladesh border, threatens Rohingya refugees in low-lying regions

Cyclone Mocha made landfall at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on Sunday, according to Bangladesh's weather office. It is destroying trees and pouring torrential rain to the region threatening hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Mocha struck between Cox's Bazar, where almost a million Rohingya refugees dwell in camps mostly made up of flimsy shelters, and Myanmar's Sittwe. Cyclone Mocha has gusts of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour.

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Cyclone speeds are as high as 140 knots, or 259 kph, according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre earlier. This is the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

"Our camp houses, which are constructed with bamboo and tarpaulins, can be blown away in soft, light winds," the 28-year-old Mohammad Sayed told AFP from Nayapara refugee camp in Bangladesh.

"The schools, which are designated as cyclone shelters... are not strong shelters that can withstand the winds of a cyclone. We are scared."

Numerous people packed into trucks, automobiles, and tuk-tuks and left Sittwe on Saturday in search of higher ground inland after meteorologists issued a 3.5 m (11 ft) storm surge warning. "We are not OK because we didn't bring food and other things to cook," said 57-year-old Maung Win from Kyauktaw town.

"We can only wait to get food from people's donations."

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According to divisional commissioner Aminur Rahman, the Bangladeshi government relocated approximately 100,000 people from Chittagong and 190,000 from Cox's Bazar to safety on Saturday night. Residents in Yangon, the centre of commerce for Myanmar, reported on Sunday that they too received rain and fast winds.

Authorities in Myanmar and Bangladesh are getting ready for a emergency response and are on high alert.The cyclone is expected to deliver torrential rain, which might cause landslips.

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According to Azizur Rahman, the headof Bangladesh's meteorological department, Cyclone Mocha is the storm that has struck Bangladesh with the greatest intensity since Cyclone Sidr. In November 2007, Sidr made landfall on Bangladesh's southern coast, killing over 3,000 people and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

Myanmar Airways International said that they have suspended all flights bound for Rakhine state until Monday.

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