Deadly Mocha lashed Myanmar and Bangladesh, and it was declared as the biggest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in over a decade. It has been intensified into the equivalent of a Category- 5 storm. Mocha delivered hazardous gusts, downpours, and storm surge as it made landfall just north of Sittwe, Myanmar, despite the storm’s moderate weakening during the last hours of its approach.
( Image source- Sky News//Google)
On May 14, as the storm came into contact with warm water in the Bay of Bengal and low vertical wind shear—factors that often intensify tropical cyclones—it entered a period of rapid development. According to Jeff Masters with Yale Climate Connections, Mocha’s tremendous winds were at their strongest, tied with Cyclone Fani for being the strongest ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean basin. The Dvorak approach, which is based on an examination of cloud patterns in visible and infrared imagery from geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites, is used by the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre to determine storm severity.
( Image source- The Guardian)
Mocha made landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Myanmar’s Sittwe. No casualties have been reported in Bangladesh yet, but makeshift shelters in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar were damaged. Communications with Sittwe were largely cut off following the storm that left streets flooded. Around 4 lakh people were evacuated in Myanmar and Bangladesh ahead of the storm. The UN estimated that 6 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance.
( Image source- The Indian Express)
Local authorities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state informed AFP that at least 41 people had died and many were injured in the cyclone-affected communities as of Tuesday as contact was slowly restored to western Myanmar. Mocha hit shore on Sunday with winds of up to 195 km/h (120 mph), bringing down power poles and shattering wooden fishing boats.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees, including half a million children fleeing Myanmar’s military assault, live in camps that are prone to flooding. They have been barred from building homes by Bangladeshi authorities to prevent them from resettling permanently.
Its effects on the north-eastern part of India:
Despite not directly hitting Mizoram, Cyclone Mocha left its mark on the region by demolishing eight camps for Myanmar refugees and inflicting damage to 236 dwellings in the southern portion of the state. 5789 people in 41 villages were reportedly impacted by high winds and heavy rains, according to state disaster management and rehabilitation department authorities. 27 of the 236 damaged homes have been designated as entirely damaged, 127 as seriously damaged, and 82 as partially damaged.
