About 24 lakh people moved to cyclone centres: Minister

Dr Md. Enamur Rahaman, state minister for the ministry of Disaster Management and Relief on Wednesday said that around 24 lakh people have been evacuated to cyclone centres in coastal districts until 2:30 pm on Wednesday as cyclonic storm Amphan nearing towards Bangladesh southern coasts.

Enamur Rahman in a virtual press conference on Wednesday afternoon came up with this statement.

He said a total of 23 lakh 90 thousand and 307 people have been taken to 14,636 cyclone shelters in 16 coastal districts at the same time a total of 5 lakh 17 thousand 432 cattle also taken to safe shelters.

Dr Enamur further said that rescuers were instructed that not a single person should be left in a risky location.

Emergency medical team is ready with essential medicines; peoples were supplied masks, hand sanitizers at cyclone centres, he added.

‘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 Enamur Rahman.

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.

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.

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 said that the evacuation would continue until the cyclone hit but most remote areas had been evacuated already.

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.