(CNN) — Powerful Cyclone Mocha made landfall on Myanmar’s west coast on Sunday and barreled through millions of vulnerable people with winds equivalent to a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane as aid agencies warned of potential for a major disaster.
Since forming in the Bay of Bengal early Thursday, the tropical storm has intensified, with sustained winds of 259 kilometers per hour (161 mph) and gusts of up to 315 kph (195 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on Sunday
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said Sunday that Mocha is likely to move north-northeast across Myanmar’s Rakhine State and “completely cross” southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, host to the world’s largest refugee camp.
Aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar said they were launching a major emergency plan as the storm brought strong winds and rain to the region along with the threat of flooding and landslides.
Disaster response teams and more than 3,000 local volunteers trained in disaster preparedness and first aid have been put on standby in the camps, and a national cyclone early warning system is in place, according to Sanjeev Kafley, Head of the IFRC Delegation. in Bangladesh.
CNN
Tropical Cyclone Mocha has intensified to a category 5 Atlantic hurricane.
Kafley said there are 7,500 emergency shelter kits, 4,000 hygiene kits and 2,000 water containers that are ready to be distributed.
In addition, mobile health teams and dozens of ambulances are ready to respond to refugees and Bangladeshis in need, with specially trained teams standing by to help the elderly, children and the disabled, Arjun Jain, UN Principal Coordinator for the Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh, told CNN.
“We expect this storm to have a worse impact than any natural disaster they have faced in the last five years,” Jain said. “At this stage, we just don’t know where the typhoon will make landfall and how strong it will be. So we hope for the best but prepare for the worst. ”
Evacuations of people in low-lying areas or those with serious medical conditions have already begun, he said.
In Myanmar, residents of coastal Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady region have begun to evacuate and seek shelter in schools and monasteries.
Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers are on standby and the agency is evacuating vulnerable people and raising awareness of the storm in villages and towns, IFRC’s Kafley said.
The last typhoon to make landfall with similar strength was Tropical Cyclone Giri in October 2010. It made landfall as a high-end Category 4 equivalent storm with maximum winds of 250 kph (155 mph).
Giri caused more than 150 deaths and almost 70% of Kyaukphyu town was destroyed. According to the United Nations, nearly 15,000 houses were destroyed in Rakhine state during the storm.
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Bangladeshi volunteers warn people to leave their homes and take shelter before typhoon Mocha makes landfall in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on May 13, 2023.
About 1 million members of the stateless Rohingya community, who fled persecution in nearby Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017, live in sprawling and overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Most live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters located on hillsides that are vulnerable to strong winds, rain, and landslides.
Jain said that the shelters can only withstand a wind speed of 40 kph (24 mph) and he expects the wind from Typhoon Mocha to exceed that.
“Low-lying areas in the camps are prone to heavy flooding, destroying shelters, facilities such as learning centers, as well as infrastructure such as bridges made of bamboo,” he said.
The storm added to an already disastrous year for the Rohingya, and without more funding from the international community, Jain said they won’t have enough to rebuild.
“They faced a 17% cut in their food rations earlier this year due to funding cuts and we expect further cuts in their rations in the coming months. 16,000 refugees have lost their home in a devastating fire last March. And now they have to deal with the typhoon. Unfortunately, we don’t have the funds to help refugees rebuild their homes and facilities if the damage is severe,” he said.
There are also concerns for the 30,000 Rohingya refugees living in an isolated and flood-prone island facility in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char. The UN refugee agency said volunteers and medical teams were on standby and cyclone shelters and food provisions were available for those living on the island.
In Myanmar, about 6 million people need humanitarian assistance in Rakhine state and across the northwest, with 1.2 million displaced, according to the UN humanitarian agency.
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People gather on the shore of Shahpori island in Teknaf ahead of Cyclone Mocha’s landfall in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on May 13, 2023.
The past few decades have seen an increase in the strength of tropical cyclones affecting countries in parts of Asia and recent research predicts that they may double in destructive power in the region by the end of century.
While scientists are still trying to understand how climate change is affecting hurricanes, more research is linking human-caused global warming to stronger and more destructive hurricanes.
Tropical storms (also known as hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones depending on the basin and the strength of the ocean), feed off the heat of the ocean. They need temperatures of at least 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) to form, and the warmer the ocean, the more moisture they can get.
The waters of the Bay of Bengal are currently at about 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the average for May.
As the climate crisis pushes up the temperature of the oceans – which absorb almost 90% of the excess heat in the world – this provides ideal conditions for hurricanes to gain strength.
Warmer oceans also increase the chance of storms intensifying rapidly, according to new research.
Rising sea levels caused by climate change are increasing the risks, exacerbating storm surge from tropical cyclones and allowing them to travel further inland.
Bangladesh and Myanmar are particularly threatened because they are low-lying, as well as home to some of the world’s poorest people.