Cyclonic storm Komen – which was on course to make landfall in Bangladesh coast yesterday but did not – has killed at least four and forced evacuation of thousands most of whom are poor village fishermen, the met office said.
Komen, which formed in the Bay of Bengal and has been advancing towards the coast, destroyed in its path dozens of homes on the Saint Martins Island in the far south of Bangladesh.
Four people died in separate incidents when trees, uprooted by strong winds, fell on their houses, said Ashrafuzzaman, the duty officer of Bangladesh Meteorological Department yesterday evening.
“At least 150 houses of fishermen were destroyed by the storm,” he said.
Our district correspondent reported that about a hundred houses have been destroyed in the wind fuelled by the approaching cyclone in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar. Several hundred makeshift houses in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Bhola and other coastal districts were also demolished.
Our Bhola correspondent said that at least 24 people have been missing at the Lalmohon upazila of the district after fishing trawlers capsized in the turbulent sea and the heavy rainfall.
Komen, which began as a monsoonal depression in the Bay on Wednesday, was forecasted to hit Bangladesh’s coast somewhere between Barisal and Chittagong yesterday afternoon.
But the met office said around 12:30pm that the cyclone had moved slightly westwards towards Cox’s Bazar, weakened and been static for several hours around 65km off the Chittagong port.
In the next weather bulletin at 6pm yesterday, the met office said that the cylcone was positioned around 50km southwest of the Chittagong port, 105km northwest of Cox’s Bazar, 200km east of Mongla port and 125km east-northeast of Payra port.
The met office also said that it is likely to move in a northerly direction and may cross Chittagong coast near Sandwip by midnight.
Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said that at least 15 coastal districts and their offshore islands will be washed by tidal surges of 3-5 feet height when Komen hits. The tide above normal astronomical flow might prolong the current flood like situation in the southeastern districts – Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Feni.
Tareq Siddique, duty officer of the warning centre, said yesterday evening: “Water carried in with the storm surge will surely inundated the low-lying areas of the other coastal districts including Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali and Jhalokathi.”
A huge stretch of agricultural land, currently preparing for a harvest of Aman Paddy, will be damaged by saline water, said Ruhul Amin, director of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP).
He also voiced concerns about deadly landslides at the hilly terrains of the Chittagong Division triggered by the Komen-influenced heavy rainfall.
On Wednesday night, the maritime ports of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar had been advised to keep hoisted danger signal number seven which also applied for Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Bhola and their offshore islands and chars.
Mongla and Payra kept hoisted danger signal number five, which also applied for Borguna, Patuakhali, Barisal, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Bagherhat, Khulna, Satkhira and their offshore islands and chars.
The 6pm met office bulletin yesterday said that the signals will remain the same until further notice.
Meanwhile, the government has made preparations for evacuating people to shelters and arrangements for rescue and relief operations in case Komen made a landfall last night.
All kinds of holidays of all government officials stationed in the coastal areas have been cancelled.
However, the storm might hit at a time when all the deputy commissioners – the top district administrators who generally lead local relief operations – are in Dhaka attending their annual conference.
CPP Director Ruhul Amin said their volunteers started helping people to come to the shelters after danger signal number seven had been hoisted.
He also said that a good number of people have taken shelter, but many have also gone back home thinking that Komen is a small-scale cyclone.
The Chittagong port authorities have issued a danger alert for vessels and advised them to remain in safe waters in the channels. The airports in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Barisal has been closed until further notice. The authorities have also closed all educational institutions in the districts.