Maungdaw, Arakan State: Cyclone Aila ripped through the Burma-Bangladesh border area, accompanied by heavy rains and raised river tide levels, burst mud embankments, flooded homes, and destroyed houses, schools in Maungdaw yesterday, a local elder said.
Heavy rainfall and high tidal waves damaged large tracts of cropland, shrimp enclosures and several houses totally or partially, some trees were also uprooted, he added.
The tidal surges, heavy wind and rainfall hit the lound Dun village; some 17 houses were badly affected where most of the villagers very poor, he more added.
The Alay Than Kyaw and the border town of Taungbro are still under water due to heavy rains and high tidal waves, an official of Maungdaw TPDC said.
Some schools and thatched roofs were destroyed by heavy winds, he added.
The authorities of Maungdaw did not have any contingency plan about the flooded areas, and the areas, damaged by Cyclone Aila. The local people are trying to save themselves, a school teacher from Maungdaw said.
On the other side of the border, Bangladeshi authorities deployed relief operations with 42,000 volunteers with armed forces and it has allocated about 1,000 tonnes of rice and Taka 12 lakh in cash for relief operations, where Cyclone Aila hit the costal area, said Abdur Razzaq, Disaster Management Minister.
This is the second storm in the Bay of Bengal in less than a month. Some people were killed and hundreds of thatched houses destroyed in Cox's Bazaar and the border area on April 17. 'Aila' centred at 12 pm about 430 kms southwest of Chittagong Port, 420 kms southwest of Cox's Bazaar Port and 230 kms south southwest of Mongla Port, a special weather bulletin of the Meteorological Department said.
Aila, the second of the North Indian Ocean cyclones this season, hit the West Bengal coast near Sagardwip at about 2:00pm, and the eye of the storm crossed the coast, near Diamond Harbour, at around 3:00pm. It was moving northwards and weakening gradually, the Met Office said.
The highest 95 mm of rainfall during the period was experienced at Rangpur, which was followed by 55 mm in Mongla, 49 mm in Cox's Bazaar, 37 mm in Satkhira, 32 mm in Kutubdia, 22 mm in Feni, 18 mm each in Chittagong and Khulna, 17 mm in Sylhet, 16 mm in Teknaf, 12 mm each in Rangamati and Jessore and 11 mm in Sandwip, the Met Office recorded.
The Kaladan News correspondent in Cox’s Bazaar said at least 2000 houses in Cox’s Bazaar town, Kutubdia, Pekoua, Sha Parir Dwip and St Martin’s Island in Teknaf, were washed away at 10:00 am by the three to four feet high tidal waves in the coastal areas of the district. The coastal embankment was also severely damaged at several places from Teknaf to Kutubdia. The Cox’s Bazaar-Teknaf Marine Drive became vulnerable at Himchhari point.
Twenty-one fishing trawlers are missing with 400 fishermen onboard. Most of the fishermen were Rohingya people, he added.
The tidal surges hit the St. Martin Island three times since morning; some 15 houses were badly affected, said Firoz Ahmed Khan, Union Parishad Chairman.
Md Shamsul Karim, executive engineer of the Cox’s Bazaar Water Development Board, said that more than a hundred kilometres of coastal embankments were badly damaged by the tidal waves.
Ehsan E Elahi, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Chittagong said that the district administration took all measures to decrease the impact of the storm. "We have opened control rooms to coordinate the measures of all sectors. We have stored dry foods and rice and medicines," he said.
The death toll from Cyclone Aila rose to 53, following recovery of more bodies from different cyclone-battered coastal districts in Bangladesh, according to sources.
Meanwhile, ATN Bangla reported that 62 people had been killed in the Cyclone that also battered West Bengal in India.
