ZCZC
BSS-40
AMPHAN-PREPAREDNESS
Bangladesh orders maximum possible evacuation overnight as Amphan
approaches
DHAKA, May 19, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh authorities has ordered evacuation
of maximum possible number of people to safety before midnight tonight as
intensifying wraths of the region’s first super cyclone in decades prompts
the met office to contemplate issuing the highest danger signal number in
their existing scale.
“The local authorities have been directed to complete the evacuation
before midnight today,” state minister for disaster management Dr Enamur
Rahman told an emergency news briefing at his office.
The disaster management ministry earlier set a target of evacuating nearly
2 million people to safety readying 12,078 cyclone shelters but the state
minister said it could be difficult to move out people to safety tomorrow as
the killer storm continued to approach.
“The met office could issue their highest ‘great danger signal’ at 6 am
tomorrow monitoring the situation overnight . . . so our goal is to move out
al people in vulnerability to safety,” Rahman said.
The minister said a large number of people by now were brought to cyclone
shelters in 19 vulnerable districts in southern coastlines.
Meteorologists, meanwhile, said the world largest mangrove forest the
Sundarbans was likely to absorb the main brunt of the Amphan onslaughts as it
did many times over the centuries including that of the recent major storms
to minimize human casualties.
“The Sundarbans always absorbed the brunt of cyclones whichever hit the
coastlines alongside the Bangladesh-India, we expect the forest to face the
initial impact of Amphan like foot soldiers,” meteorology department director
Shamsuddin Ahmed told newsmen.
Leading global storm tracker AccuWeather earlier today described Amphan as
the first super cyclone in Bay of Bengal since 1999, fearing the “ferocious”
storm to unleash extreme impacts across Bangladeshi and northeastern Indian
coastlines.
The latest Bangladesh et office bulletin said the Amphan over west-central
bay and adjoining area moved north-northeast wards and lied over the same
area (lat. 17.0on, long. 87.0oe).
It said the storms location at 3 pm today was centred at about 785 km
southwest of Chattogram Port, 740 km southwest of Cox’s Bazar Port, 670 km
south-southwest of Mongla Port and 665 km south-southwest of Payra Port.
It is likely to move in a north-northeasterly direction and may cross
Bangladesh coast between khulna-Chattogram during afternoon / evening 20 may
2020.
Indian met office in a near identical statement said Amphan was very
likely to move north-north-eastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross
West Bengal -Bangladesh coasts.
It predicted the path to be between Indian West Bengal’s Digha and
Bangladesh’s Hatiya Islands close to Sundarbans “during afternoon to evening
hours of 20thMay 2020with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kp/h
gusting to 185kp/h”.
BSS/ASG/MMR/AR/1929 HRS