POWERFUL Cyclone Mocha has hit the coastlines of Bangladesh and Myanmar after intensifying into the equivalent of a category-five storm, with fears that hundreds may have died in Myanmar.
It is the biggest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in over a decade, causing more than 400,000 people to be evacuated in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Cyclone Mocha did not make landfall at the sprawling refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar as earlier feared, but still tore apart hundreds of makeshift shelters.
Up to 90 per cent of the western Rakhine state’s capital city Sittwe has been destroyed.
Powerful storm surges brought flooding to the port city where streets were turned into rivers.
Before the cyclone, at least 6 million people were in need of humanitarian support and about 1.2 million were displaced across Rakhine state and the northwest of Myanmar, according to United Nations estimates.
In Bangladesh, many of the Rohingya refugees live in sprawling camps prone to flooding and landslides, with approximately one million Rohingya living in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp.
Bangladesh’s government does not allow Rohingya refugees to leave the camps or build permanent structures, so the flimsy bamboo and tarpaulin structures are vulnerable to extreme weather.
There are also concerns for hundreds of Rohingya refugees housed on island facility in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char, which is highly flood prone. Communications remain limited and reports continue to flow in.
“For such a powerful cyclone to hit not just one, but two areas where millions of people are already highly reliant on humanitarian aid is a serious challenge,” Caritas Australia’s Humanitarian Associate Director, Melville Fernandez, said.
“Many communities in Myanmar and Bangladesh have already faced displacement, flooding, cyclones, COVID-19 and a cost-of-living crisis, and their coping capacity is eroded by the succession of challenges that they’ve faced in just a few short years.”
Caritas Australia’s partners on the ground are coordinating with government and other aid organisations to assess the damage, and will focus on providing food, shelter, clean water and cash assistance to the most impacted communities.
Caritas Bangladesh has capacity to shelter more than 150,000 people in cyclone shelters and has an extensive staff and volunteer network ready to respond across the affected areas.
Visit caritas.org.au/donate/emergency-appeals/myanmar-cyclone/ or call 1800 024 413 toll free to provide much needed support.
