Bangladesh and Myanmar said on Sunday strong cyclone Attacks began on the coast, with authorities urging thousands of people in both countries to seek shelter.

Hurricane Mocha’s outermost band reaches coast Myanmar The center of the storm is expected to make landfall near the town of Sittwe in Rakhine state Sunday morning to afternoon, the Myanmar Meteorological Department said on Sunday. The town is under the highest weather alert.

More than 4,000 of Sittwe’s 300,000 residents have been evacuated to other cities since Friday, with more than 20,000 sheltering in fortified structures such as monasteries, pagodas and schools on the city’s high ground, said Tin Nyein Oo, who Sittwe is helping people living in shelters.

Many local residents live within an area of ​​nearly 10 feet above sea levelwhere residents believed the storm surge could not reach, he added.

On Sunday morning, Tin Nyein Oo said the city was experiencing strong winds of 25 to 40 miles per hour.

“The storm hasn’t entered yet, so we haven’t had much difficulty. However, there are too many people in the shelters and not enough toilets,” he added.

Lin Lin, president of a local charitable foundation, said earlier that shelters in Sittwe did not have enough food after more people arrived than expected.

exist BangladeshSunday morning, the weather will remain sunny and wet in most areas.

United Nations agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh pre-positioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in the refugee camps where more than 1 million Rohingya Fleeing persecution in Burma.

Bangladesh has sent its most dangerous signal to Cox’s Bazar, where the refugee camp is located. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has warned that the cyclone could wreak havoc on life and property in eight coastal areas.

As of Sunday morning, there were no reports of heavy rainfall in Cox’s Bazar.

Bangladesh, with a population of more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The Navy said it had 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters ready for rescue and disaster relief operations.

Bangladeshi authorities said heavy rain from the cyclone could trigger landslides in Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, as well as in three other hilly areas – Rangamati, Bandarban and Kagrachari.

May 2008, Cyclone Nargis The storm surge hit Myanmar, destroying populated areas around the Ayeyarwady delta. At least 138,000 people were killed and tens of thousands of homes and other structures were washed away.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal were becoming more intense at a faster rate, Part of the reason is climate change.

Climate scientists say cyclones can now hold energy for many days. Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020 continued to move over land as a powerful cyclone causing widespread damage.

“As long as the oceans are warmer and the winds are favorable, hurricanes will maintain their strength for longer periods of time,” Cole said.

Cyclones are among the most destructive natural disasters in the world, especially when they affect the densely populated coastal areas of South Asia.