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Download PDF People of the country heaved a sigh of relief as cyclone Nargis did not finally hit Bangladesh, changing its course eastward and starting to cross Myanmar yesterday evening.
“The severe cyclonic storm with a core of hurricane winds over east central Bay and adjoining area moved eastwards and is crossing Myanmar coast,” a Met official said yesterday evening.
The Met Office said cyclone Nargis that brew in the Bay and showed erratic behaviour started to cross the Irawaddy delta coast at 6:00pm and would take the whole night to cross the coast and become weak.
It has advised the maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Mongla to hoist distant warning signal No. 2.
News agency AFP reported from Yangon that the storm centred about 210km west of Haing Gyi Island at the mouth of the Irrawaddy river, about 430km southwest of Yangon.
Haing Gyi Island could not be contacted for further information after it was hit by 10-12 feet high tide, the report said.
The Myanmar meteorological department said it was yet to know if the storm caused any damage or casualties, AFP reported at 7:30pm yesterday.
Our Chittagong office reports: All out preparations were made to face the situation if cyclone Nargis had hit. The meteorological department had asked the authorities to hoist maritime signal No. 4 for Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar on Thursday noon.
District administration along with other authorities and organisations were ready to rehabilitate people in 526 cyclone shelters in the coastal areas of the district.
“Over 3,000 volunteers of Cyclone Preparedness Programme and 1,500 members of ansar and VDP were kept on alert for evacuation and rehabilitation activities,” said Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Ashraf Shameem.
Around 280 medical teams were also kept prepared for any possible situation, he added.
The district administration, Chittagong City Corporation and Chittagong Port Authority also set up separate control rooms.
No sign of high tide or tidal surge was noticed in Teknaf, but St Martin’s Island could not be contacted, reports our Chittagong office.
The country is still picking up the pieces after last November’s devastating cyclone Sidr, which smashed into the southern coast, killing more than 3,000 people.
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