International Desk, 14 May: The only coral island in Bangladesh Saint Martin’s may likely go under water as a result of the powerful cyclonic storm “Mocha,” according to the director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). Water will migrate from one side of the island to the other when the storm’s centre passes over St. Martin, according to BMD director Azizur Rahman.
“Since there is no major infrastructure on the island, the storm will not get obstructed anywhere and hit the island directly. As the centre of the storm passes over St Martin’s, water will move from one side of the island to the other, and due to the intensity of the storm, the island may be underwater for some time,” BMD Director Md Azizur Rahman.
He added, “But the water will not stay still; it may also move away. The situation depends entirely on the speed of the storm.”
Notably, the Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm “Mocha” (pronounced as “Mokha”) over Northeast and adjoining East central Bay of Bengal moved nearly north-northeastwards with a speed of 21 kmph during past 06 hours and lay centred at 0830 hours IST on Sunday over the same region near latitude 19.3°N and longitude 91.9°E, about 130 km southwest of Sittwe (Myanmar), 230 km south of Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) and 850 km north-northwest of Port Blair.
Between Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) and Kyaukpyu (Myanmar) close to Sittwe (Myanmar), around noon on this day, May 14, 2023, an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 180-190 kmph gusting to 210 kmph is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar coasts.
Over the northern shores of Myanmar and Bangladesh there is a lot of rain and high gusts and the spiral band has reached these coastal regions. In a few hours, the landfall process will start.