Cyclone Mocha ravages Myanmar: 700 injured, communications blackout | World news

Rescuers early Monday rescued about 1,000 people trapped by 3.6-meter (12-foot) deep seawater in southwestern Myanmar after a typhoon that injured hundreds and cut off communications from one in less developed Asian countries. The extent of the damage and the number of dead are not yet known.

The storm injured more than 700 of the 20,000 people who were sheltering in strong buildings on the mountains of Sittwe city such as monasteries, pagodas and schools, according to the leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association. in Sittwe. He asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the military authorities.

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Seawater has rushed to more than ten small bays close to the coast as Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state on Sunday afternoon, he said. Residents moved to the roofs and high floors, while the wind and storm prevented immediate rescue.

“After 4 o’clock last night, the storm subsided a bit, but the water did not recede. Most of them sit on the roof and in the high places of their houses all night. The wind blows all night,” said the leader of the rescue team.

Water was still about 1.5 meters (5 feet) in flooded areas on Monday morning, but rescuers were working as the wind eased and the sun rose in the sky. He asked civil society organizations and authorities to send aid and help evacuate residents.

At least three deaths were reported earlier in Myanmar, and several injuries were reported in neighboring Bangladesh, which ruled out a direct hit from the forecast.

Mocha made landfall near the city of Sittwe with winds blowing up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour, the Myanmar Meteorological Department said. By Monday morning, it had downgraded from severe to weak over land, according to the India Meteorological Department.

High winds blew down a telephone tower during the day, cutting off communications. In videos obtained by local media before communications were lost, deep water was rushing through the streets and wind was blowing off the mountains.

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Myanmar’s military information office said the storm had damaged houses, electrical transformers, cell phone towers, boats and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyakpyu, and Gwa towns. It said roofs were torn off houses on the Coco Islands, about 425 kilometers (264 miles) southwest of the country’s capital, Yangon.

Former volunteers said the shelters in Sittwe did not have enough food after more people arrived there seeking help.

Mocha protects the Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar, which is currently in the storm’s forecast path. The authorities have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the storm moved to the east.

About a dozen people were injured on the island of Saint Martin, while 300 houses were damaged or destroyed, led the Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo.

UN agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh have predicted tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances in refugee camps housing more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a severe storm that devastated large areas around the Irrawaddy River delta. At least 138,000 people have died and thousands of homes and other buildings have been destroyed.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Climate in Pune, said that cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more frequent, partly due to climate change.

Climate scientists say that cyclones can retain their strength for several days. Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020 continues to travel over land as a hurricane and cause great destruction.

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“As long as the oceans are warm and the winds are favorable, hurricanes will retain their strength for a long time,” Koll said.

Typhoons, called typhoons or typhoons in other regions, are among the world’s most destructive natural disasters when they hit populated coastal areas.