Bangladesh has evacuated nearly 24 lakh people to 14,636 cyclone shelters in 16 coastal districts until 2:30pm as super cyclone Amphan would hit the country between 6:00pm and 8:00pm.
‘The cyclone is likely to cross the Sunderbans in Satkhira and Khulna area between 6:00pm and 8:00pm as it would move inland after making landfall,’ said state minister for disaster management and relief Enamur Rahman at an online briefing in the afternoon.
A Bangladesh Meteorological Department special bulletin issued at 3:00pm said that the cyclone would lash coastal areas with winds blowing up to 160km per hour.
The cyclone is likely to push water 10–15 feet above the normal astronomical tide inundating low-lying areas in 14 coastal districts, their offshore islands and chars, said the Met Office.
Earlier in the morning the Met Office raised alert for the ports of Mongla and Payra and 11 adjacent districts to the danger signal number 10 from 7.
The most vulnerable districts are Satkhira, Khulna, Bagierhat, Jhalakathi, Pirojpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barishal, Lakshmipur and, Chandpur.
The ports of Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar were asked to keep hoisting danger signal number 9. Five adjacent coastal districts — Noakhali, Cumilla, Feni, Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar — were also under the danger signal number 9.
Disaster management and relief secretary Shah Kamal told New Age that the evacuation would continue until the cyclone hit but most remote areas had been evacuated already.
The disaster management ministry also confirmed to have taken 4,17,432 livestock to safety by Wednesday afternoon.
Amphan is the deadliest cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 Odisha cyclone which at its peak was packed with wind blowing up to 260km per hour.
On Monday, Amphan reached similar wind strength but it weakened slightly later with wind within 85km of its centre blowing at 220km per hour, said the Met Office.
The cyclone is centred over northwest Bay of Bengal and moved in a north-northeastwards direction until 12:30pm, it said.
Until 3:00pm, the cyclone was 420km southwest of Chattogram port, 430km southwest of Cox’s Bazar port, 200km southwest of Mongla port and 250km southwest of Payra port, said the Met Office.
