On Sunday, May 11, tropical cyclone Mocha made landfall in Myanmar's Rakhine state. A great deal of damage was caused and at least three people were killed. Bangladesh was also hit by the storm earlier, but escaped without much damage. Hundreds of thousands of people from Myanmar and Bangladesh were evacuated the day before the storm. There were fears of a category 5 cyclone, the strongest of its kind.
It was feared that Mocha would cause a lot of damage in Bangladesh. Fear of the storm was particularly high in Cox's Bazar, where more than a million Rohingya refugees live. But the damage was not too bad. "Fortunately, we were able to escape the worst of the cyclone," government official Mohammad Shamsud Douza said. "We received some reports of damaged cabins, but there are no casualties."
In Myanmar, the damage is much greater. Mocha made landfall in the coastal town of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. Parts of the city were under water, as were many buildings. Many people in the city sheltered from the storm in various buildings. That was not without danger, because roofs were blown off the buildings everywhere. "The entire northern part of Rakhine has been seriously damaged," said Khine Thu Kha, spokesman for the Arakan army that controls the state. "A lot of people are in trouble."
Wind speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour were measured in Myanmar. According to the AP news agency, houses, electrical transformers, cell phone masts, boats and lampposts have been destroyed by the storm. Hospitals have also been damaged. An adult couple and an adult man have died so far.
