With Cyclone Asani expected to make landfall on Tuesday, coastal regions of Bangladesh are already gearing up to face the storm.
As many as 4,915 shelters have been set up in the division to deal with the upcoming Cyclone Asani, according to the Barisal Divisional Commissioner's Office.
Among them, 1,071 shelters have been set up in Barisal district, 925 in Patuakhali, 1,104 in Bhola, 712 in Pirojpur, 629 in Barguna and 474 in Jhalokathi.
These shelters can accommodate two million people as well as hundreds of thousands of cattle.
Barisal Divisional Commissioner Amin Ul Ahsan assured that adequate preparations have been made to deal with Cyclone Asani.
The district administration has instructed the concerned officials to provide clean water, dry food, and electricity at the shelters.
Barisal Deputy Commissioner Jashim Uddin Haider said a preparatory meeting has already been held on Saturday with representatives of relief, disaster management, upazila nirbahi officer, and various government and non-government organizations.
“Volunteers have also been prepared. We are working on giving more importance to the coastal areas," he added.
Meanwhile, farmers in Barisal and Bagerhat districts are busy harvesting ripe paddy fearing damage from Cyclone Asani.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said that 65% of the Bagerhat’s paddy has been harvested by Sunday while the rest will be completed shortly.
Md Motahar Hossain, training officer of Bagerhat zone of DAE, said that many people have taken the paddy home by harvesting it with threshing machines.
Cyclones only occur in May
According to sources, such cyclones often occur in May every year. Cyclone Aila came on May 25, 2009. It hit the southwestern part of Bangladesh (Khulna Division) and West Bengal in India, affecting more than three million people.
In May 2020, Amphan hit the region again. It was a powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in Eastern India, specifically in West Bengal and Odisha, and in Bangladesh.
One year later, another Cyclone Yaas appeared on May 26. It occurred during the lunar eclipse, which caused abnormal six-eight feet tidal waves across the coastal districts– Bhola, Patuakhali, Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Jhalokathi, Barguna, Barisal and Pirojpur– resulting in breached embankments and inundation.
The nation is yet to see what Asani brings this time.
Our Bagerhat correspondent SM Shamsur Rahman contributed to this report.