(CNN) — Powerful Storm Mocha made landfall on Myanmar’s west coast on Sunday and is battering millions of vulnerable people with winds equivalent to a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane as aid agencies warn of the potential for a major disaster.
Since forming in the Bay of Bengal early Thursday, the tropical storm has strengthened, 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 last Sunday.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said on Sunday that Mocha is likely to move north-northeast across Rakhine State in Myanmar and “completely cross” southeast of Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, host of the world’s largest. refugee camp.
Aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar said they had launched massive emergency plans 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 storm early warning system has been put in place, according to Sanjeev Kafley, Head of Delegation of the IFRC Delegation of Bangladesh.
CNN
Tropical Cyclone Mocha has strengthened to a category 5 Atlantic hurricane.
Kafley said there are 7,500 emergency shelter kits, 4,000 hygiene kits and 2,000 water containers 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 ready 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 more severe impact than any other 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 with what intensity. So we’re hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.”
Evacuation of people in low-lying areas or those with serious medical conditions has begun, he said.
In Myanmar, residents of coastal Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady region began 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 typhoon awareness in villages and townships, IFRC’s Kafley said.
The last storm to make landfall of 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 about 70% of the city of Kyaukphyu was destroyed. According to the United Nations, about 15,000 houses were destroyed in Rakhine state during the storm.
Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Bangladeshi volunteers warn people to leave their homes and take shelter before Cyclone 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 neighboring Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017, live in sprawling, overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Most live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters perched on hilly slopes that are vulnerable to strong winds, rain, and landslides.
Jain said the shelters could only handle winds of 40 kph (24 mph) and he expected winds from Typhoon Mocha to exceed that.
“Low-lying areas of the camps are likely to flood quickly, destroying shelters, facilities such as learning centers, as well as infrastructure such as bridges made of bamboo,” he said. .
The storm adds to an already devastating year for the Rohingya, and without additional funding from the international community, Jain said they won’t have enough to rebuild.
“They faced a 17% reduction in their food rations earlier this year due to funding cuts and we expect further reductions in their rations in the coming months. 16,000 refugees have lost their homes in a devastating fire in 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 destruction is severe,” he said.
There are also concerns for the 30,000 Rohingya refugees who live in an isolated and flood-prone area. island facility in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char. The The UN refugee agency said volunteers and medical teams are on standby and cyclone shelters and food provisions are available for islanders.
In Myanmar, about 6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Rakhine state and across the northwest, with 1.2 million displaced, according to the UN humanitarian agency.
Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury/NurPhoto/Getty Images
People gather on Shahpori island beach in Teknaf before Cyclone Mocha’s landfall in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on May 13, 2023.
The past few decades have seen a increase in strength of tropical cyclones affecting countries in some parts of Asia and recent research predicting that they may have double the destructive power in the region at the end of the century.
While scientists are still trying to understand the ways climate change is affecting hurricanes, much research has linked human-caused global warming to stronger and more destructive hurricanes.
Tropical cyclones (also known as typhoons, typhoons and tropical storms depending on the ocean basin and intensity), feed off the heat of the ocean. They need temperatures of at least about 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit Fahrenheit) to develop, and the warmer the ocean, the more moisture they can absorb.
Water in the Bay of Bengal is currently around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than average for May.
As the climate crisis increases the temperature of the oceans – which absorb around 90% of the planet’s excess heat – it provides ideal conditions for storms to intensify.
Warmer oceans also increase the likelihood of hurricanes rapidly intensifyingaccording to recent research.
Sea level rise caused by climate change increases the risks, exacerbating storm surges from tropical cyclones and allowing them to travel further inland.
Bangladesh and Myanmar are particularly at risk because they are low-lying, as well as home to some of the world’s poorest people.
