Cyclone Mocha: Great danger signal 10 at Cox’s Bazar

The administration has urged the people of the coastal areas to go to shelter centres as the Met office authorities advised to hoist great danger signal no 10 for the maritime port in Cox's Bazar ahead of the expected landfall of Cyclone Mocha by 6pm on Sunday (14 May).

Meanwhile, the maritime ports of Chattogram and Payra will continue to hoist great danger signal 8 and Mongla seaport has been asked to show local warning signal 4.

Coastal districts of Cox's Bazar, Chattogram, Feni, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Chandpur, Barishal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Jhalkathi, Pirojpur, Barguna, and their nearby islands and chars will also be under great danger signal 8.

In a bulletin released at 9pm Friday, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department has advised all fishing boats and trawlers in the northern Bay of Bengal to seek shelter immediately.

Md Monowar Hossain, meteorologist at the Met office, told The Business Standard that the impact of the cyclone may begin on Cox's Bazar and adjacent coastal areas from the evening of 13 May.

"There is a 99% chance that the cyclone will pass through Saint Martins Island and Cox's Bazar between 7am and 3pm on 14 May (Sunday)," said Meteorologist Mostofa Kamal Polash, a PhD researcher on meteorology and climate at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

"At the time, its maximum sustained wind speed could be 185-200km per hour."

He also warned, "Char areas of Noakhali and Bhola may face the threat of 10-15 feet-high tides due to the impact of the cyclone."