Hurricane strikes coastline
Friday, 16 November 2007
BAGERHAT, Nov 15 (UNB): With its full fury, the hurricane SIDR packing a terrible wind speed of up to 240 kph pounded on Dublarchar and Hironpoint near the Sundarbans Thursday night.
All communications with Dublarchar, a remote island in the Bay, with more than 5,000 people, mostly fishermen, completely snapped since 7pm as the storm kept blowing past the coastline.
Wireless connections with Sundarbans were also disrupted as the cyclone was sweeping over the mangrove-forest areas.
The eye of the SIDR with a wind speed of 200-220 kph was likely to hit the coastal belt of Khulna and Barisal shortly after 5.00 pm.
Residents reached over phone said the cyclonic storm flattened innumerable thatched houses, uprooted trees and twisted corrugated iron sheets in different upazilas of Bagerhat district that bears the main brunt of the tempest.
Reports from Patuakhali said the storm severely hit the islands of Rangabali and Galachipa. Report of any major damage or human casualty could not be known immediately at this cataclysm.
Bagerhat District Police Superintendent Shahidur Rahman said Dublarchar island and Hiron Point near the Sundarbans mangrove were experiencing a strong wind, which was gradually gathering intensity.
He said all preparations are in place and more than 5,000 people, mostly fishermen, in Dublarchar Island were taken to shelter centers.
Another report from southeastern sea-resort town of Cox's Bazar said the St Martins Island in the Bay of Bengal was experiencing initial storms with a speed of 80kph to 100kph in the afternoon. At least 200 tourists, including some foreigners, have been stranded at the St. Martins since Wednesday.
Earlier, the authorities in the country's 15 coastal districts deployed volunteers evacuating thousands of people from low-lying offshore islands to cyclone centers as Dhaka met office issued the great danger signal 10 for seaports and coastal districts on Wednesday evening.
bdnews24.com adds: The vessel MV Abashar, hired for BBC's river tour named "Bangladesh by river", got stuck 25 kilometres off Sirajganj town because of the bad weather, a journalist aboard the vessel said.
Rivers flowing into the Bay of Bengal along parts of the southern coast have all swollen and are still rising, officials concerned said.
"From my window, I can see tins ripping off roofs and tree branches flying under the sky covered with thick clouds," said Moulavi Feroze Ahmed, a local government official at St. Martin's Island in the Bay of Bengal near the storm.
"It looks like the sea is coming to grab us," he said. "It has been rough with high waves. The storm has already triggered a 3-foot (1-metre) high water surge."
Officials at Cox's Bazar, a popular tourist destination, said they had evacuated nearly 200,000 people to about 600 government and private shelters and asked others to move on their own.
"The shifting process is continuing," said Sajjadul Hasan, chief of the local district administration. People heading for shelters were taking food, clothes and their cattle with them.
In Chittagong, officials said they were worried by the unusual calm before the storm.
"This suggests the core of the storm has been static, but may suddenly move with super speed before it finally slams the shores," a meteorological official said.
The meteorology department advised to hoist the great danger signal number 10, the highest, at Mongla, Bangladesh's second main sea port, and the great danger signal number 9 at Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.
The storm was expected to hit India's West Bengal coast around midnight with wind speeds of up to 200 km per hour, said BP Yadav, a senior weather official. "We have suggested evacuation of people from the region," he added.
All communications with Dublarchar, a remote island in the Bay, with more than 5,000 people, mostly fishermen, completely snapped since 7pm as the storm kept blowing past the coastline.
Wireless connections with Sundarbans were also disrupted as the cyclone was sweeping over the mangrove-forest areas.
The eye of the SIDR with a wind speed of 200-220 kph was likely to hit the coastal belt of Khulna and Barisal shortly after 5.00 pm.
Residents reached over phone said the cyclonic storm flattened innumerable thatched houses, uprooted trees and twisted corrugated iron sheets in different upazilas of Bagerhat district that bears the main brunt of the tempest.
Reports from Patuakhali said the storm severely hit the islands of Rangabali and Galachipa. Report of any major damage or human casualty could not be known immediately at this cataclysm.
Bagerhat District Police Superintendent Shahidur Rahman said Dublarchar island and Hiron Point near the Sundarbans mangrove were experiencing a strong wind, which was gradually gathering intensity.
He said all preparations are in place and more than 5,000 people, mostly fishermen, in Dublarchar Island were taken to shelter centers.
Another report from southeastern sea-resort town of Cox's Bazar said the St Martins Island in the Bay of Bengal was experiencing initial storms with a speed of 80kph to 100kph in the afternoon. At least 200 tourists, including some foreigners, have been stranded at the St. Martins since Wednesday.
Earlier, the authorities in the country's 15 coastal districts deployed volunteers evacuating thousands of people from low-lying offshore islands to cyclone centers as Dhaka met office issued the great danger signal 10 for seaports and coastal districts on Wednesday evening.
bdnews24.com adds: The vessel MV Abashar, hired for BBC's river tour named "Bangladesh by river", got stuck 25 kilometres off Sirajganj town because of the bad weather, a journalist aboard the vessel said.
Rivers flowing into the Bay of Bengal along parts of the southern coast have all swollen and are still rising, officials concerned said.
"From my window, I can see tins ripping off roofs and tree branches flying under the sky covered with thick clouds," said Moulavi Feroze Ahmed, a local government official at St. Martin's Island in the Bay of Bengal near the storm.
"It looks like the sea is coming to grab us," he said. "It has been rough with high waves. The storm has already triggered a 3-foot (1-metre) high water surge."
Officials at Cox's Bazar, a popular tourist destination, said they had evacuated nearly 200,000 people to about 600 government and private shelters and asked others to move on their own.
"The shifting process is continuing," said Sajjadul Hasan, chief of the local district administration. People heading for shelters were taking food, clothes and their cattle with them.
In Chittagong, officials said they were worried by the unusual calm before the storm.
"This suggests the core of the storm has been static, but may suddenly move with super speed before it finally slams the shores," a meteorological official said.
The meteorology department advised to hoist the great danger signal number 10, the highest, at Mongla, Bangladesh's second main sea port, and the great danger signal number 9 at Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.
The storm was expected to hit India's West Bengal coast around midnight with wind speeds of up to 200 km per hour, said BP Yadav, a senior weather official. "We have suggested evacuation of people from the region," he added.