Mocha cyclone update

Highlights • Extremely Severe Cyclone Mocha crossed the coast between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu township in Myanmar at lunchtime on 14 May (local time) packing winds estimated at around 250 kmph, making it one of the strongest cyclones on record in the country. • Heavy rains, storm surge and strong winds have been recorded across the affected areas throughout the day with flooding in low-lying areas of Rakhine, particularly in and around the state capital, Sittwe. • Thousands of people spent the day sheltering in evacuation centres and in relatives’ houses inland from the coast, where they will remain tonight until the winds subside. • The ongoing wild weather in Rakhine and telecommunications interruptions mean it has not yet been possible to assess the full magnitude of the disaster, but early reports suggest the damage is extensive and needs among already vulnerable communities, particularly displaced people, will be high. • The UN and its humanitarian partners have spent the week preparing for the cyclone’s arrival and have been pre-positioning stocks and personnel ready to assess and respond to needs as soon as it is safe to do so. With the cyclone now losing intensity and moving inland, humanitarian teams plan to begin this work tomorrow. • An urgent injection of funds is desperately needed to facilitate a full-scale response to the impacts of the cyclone and subsequent flooding. To date, the Situation Overview Extremely Severe Cyclone Mocha made landfal...

Saturday, May 6: In line with the predictions from earlier this week, the system that has been brewing in the Bay of Bengal will finally take shape in the next 24 hours, effectively kicking off the 2023 pre-monsoon cyclone season. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cyclonic circulation formed over southeast Bay of Bengal earlier this morning. From here on, it will influence the formation of a low-pressure area over the same region around Monday morning (May 8). The low will then concentrate into a depression by Tuesday (May 9). Pre-cyclone system's expected impact While still in the low-pressure and depression phase, the system is expected to trigger light to moderate rains at most places across Andaman-Nicobar Islands from Monday to Friday (May 8-12). T​he Islands will also be in for isolated heavy to very heavy showers (64.5 mm to 204 mm) from Monday to Tuesday (May 8-11), along with scattered heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy downpours (204 mm) on Wednesday (May 10). Moreover, the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of Andaman Sea and the Islands will be in for squally winds blowing at 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph on Sunday and 50-60 kmph, gusting to 70 kmph on Monday and Tuesday. Come Wednesday, the wind speeds would further increase to 60-70 kmph, gusting to 80 kmph over southeast and adjoining central Bay of Bengal. As the regional conditions get stormier, the seas will also get gradually rougher as we head deepe...

Attachments • Download Report (PDF | 417.01 KB) In Numbers 3.4 million people are living in Cyclone Mocha’s highest impact zone 1.6 million people targeted for the UN cyclone response At least 800,000 cyclone-affected people are prioritized for WFP’s food and nutrition support for an initial three-month period Highlights WFP has reached 394,400 people across Rakhine State within the first month of its cyclone response with emergency food assistance. WFP’s ongoing market monitoring in central Rakhine showed a decrease in the prices of some food commodities, particularly rice, following WFP’s in-kind food distributions. WFP will face a critical interruption in all its life-saving activities, starting from August 2023, without a fresh injection of critical funding. WFP urgently needs US$60 million to ensure uninterrupted emergency food and nutrition assistance. Situation Update • The impact of Cyclone Mocha exacerbated an already precarious food security situation, particularly in townships and displacement sites in Rakhine State, where households experienced a substantial loss of food stocks and livelihoods, with their shelters destroyed. Local relief and recovery efforts are ongoing across several cyclone-affected areas. • WFP’s initial rapid situation monitoring in five cyclone-affected townships showed that agricultural land, fishponds, and drinking water supplies have been impacted by saltwater intrusion. Extensive crop damage, including rice seed stocks for the planting...

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Thousands of people hunkered down Sunday in monasteries, pagodas and schools, seeking shelter from a powerful storm that slammed into the coast of Myanmar, tearing the roofs off buildings and killing at least three people. The center of Cyclone Mocha made landfall Sunday afternoon in Myanmar’s Rakhine state near Sittwe township wind speeds up to 130 mph, Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said. Earlier, the storm passed over Bangladesh’s Saint Martin’s Island, causing damage and injuring people, but turned away from the country’s shores before landfall. Myanmar’s military information office said the storm had damaged houses, electrical transformers, cellphone towers, boats and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said the storm also tore roofs off of sport buildings on the Coco Islands, about 264 miles southwest of the country’s largest city, Yangon. More than 300,000 residents in Sittwe evacuated Rakhine-based media reported that streets and basements of the houses in Sittwe’s low-lying areas were flooded, and that people were trapped in their houses and unable to communicate. Much of the area is cut off from telephone and internet service after high winds crumpled cellphone towers. More than 4,000 of Sittwe’s 300,000 residents were evacuated to other cities and more than 20,000 people were sheltering in sturdy buildings such as monasteries, pagodas and schools located on the city’s highlands, said Tin Nyein Oo, who is volunteering in ...

Saturday, May 6: In line with the predictions from earlier this week, the system that has been brewing in the Bay of Bengal will finally take shape in the next 24 hours, effectively kicking off the 2023 pre-monsoon cyclone season. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cyclonic circulation formed over southeast Bay of Bengal earlier this morning. From here on, it will influence the formation of a low-pressure area over the same region around Monday morning (May 8). The low will then concentrate into a depression by Tuesday (May 9). Pre-cyclone system's expected impact While still in the low-pressure and depression phase, the system is expected to trigger light to moderate rains at most places across Andaman-Nicobar Islands from Monday to Friday (May 8-12). T​he Islands will also be in for isolated heavy to very heavy showers (64.5 mm to 204 mm) from Monday to Tuesday (May 8-11), along with scattered heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy downpours (204 mm) on Wednesday (May 10). Moreover, the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of Andaman Sea and the Islands will be in for squally winds blowing at 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph on Sunday and 50-60 kmph, gusting to 70 kmph on Monday and Tuesday. Come Wednesday, the wind speeds would further increase to 60-70 kmph, gusting to 80 kmph over southeast and adjoining central Bay of Bengal. As the regional conditions get stormier, the seas will also get gradually rougher as we head deepe...

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Thousands of people hunkered down Sunday in monasteries, pagodas and schools, seeking shelter from a powerful storm that slammed into the coast of Myanmar, tearing the roofs off buildings and killing at least three people. The center of Cyclone Mocha made landfall Sunday afternoon in Myanmar’s Rakhine state near Sittwe township wind speeds up to 130 mph, Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said. Earlier, the storm passed over Bangladesh’s Saint Martin’s Island, causing damage and injuring people, but turned away from the country’s shores before landfall. Myanmar’s military information office said the storm had damaged houses, electrical transformers, cellphone towers, boats and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said the storm also tore roofs off of sport buildings on the Coco Islands, about 264 miles southwest of the country’s largest city, Yangon. More than 300,000 residents in Sittwe evacuated Rakhine-based media reported that streets and basements of the houses in Sittwe’s low-lying areas were flooded, and that people were trapped in their houses and unable to communicate. Much of the area is cut off from telephone and internet service after high winds crumpled cellphone towers. More than 4,000 of Sittwe’s 300,000 residents were evacuated to other cities and more than 20,000 people were sheltering in sturdy buildings such as monasteries, pagodas and schools located on the city’s highlands, said Tin Nyein Oo, who is volunteering in ...

Attachments • Download Report (PDF | 417.01 KB) In Numbers 3.4 million people are living in Cyclone Mocha’s highest impact zone 1.6 million people targeted for the UN cyclone response At least 800,000 cyclone-affected people are prioritized for WFP’s food and nutrition support for an initial three-month period Highlights WFP has reached 394,400 people across Rakhine State within the first month of its cyclone response with emergency food assistance. WFP’s ongoing market monitoring in central Rakhine showed a decrease in the prices of some food commodities, particularly rice, following WFP’s in-kind food distributions. WFP will face a critical interruption in all its life-saving activities, starting from August 2023, without a fresh injection of critical funding. WFP urgently needs US$60 million to ensure uninterrupted emergency food and nutrition assistance. Situation Update • The impact of Cyclone Mocha exacerbated an already precarious food security situation, particularly in townships and displacement sites in Rakhine State, where households experienced a substantial loss of food stocks and livelihoods, with their shelters destroyed. Local relief and recovery efforts are ongoing across several cyclone-affected areas. • WFP’s initial rapid situation monitoring in five cyclone-affected townships showed that agricultural land, fishponds, and drinking water supplies have been impacted by saltwater intrusion. Extensive crop damage, including rice seed stocks for the planting...

Highlights • Extremely Severe Cyclone Mocha crossed the coast between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu township in Myanmar at lunchtime on 14 May (local time) packing winds estimated at around 250 kmph, making it one of the strongest cyclones on record in the country. • Heavy rains, storm surge and strong winds have been recorded across the affected areas throughout the day with flooding in low-lying areas of Rakhine, particularly in and around the state capital, Sittwe. • Thousands of people spent the day sheltering in evacuation centres and in relatives’ houses inland from the coast, where they will remain tonight until the winds subside. • The ongoing wild weather in Rakhine and telecommunications interruptions mean it has not yet been possible to assess the full magnitude of the disaster, but early reports suggest the damage is extensive and needs among already vulnerable communities, particularly displaced people, will be high. • The UN and its humanitarian partners have spent the week preparing for the cyclone’s arrival and have been pre-positioning stocks and personnel ready to assess and respond to needs as soon as it is safe to do so. With the cyclone now losing intensity and moving inland, humanitarian teams plan to begin this work tomorrow. • An urgent injection of funds is desperately needed to facilitate a full-scale response to the impacts of the cyclone and subsequent flooding. To date, the Situation Overview Extremely Severe Cyclone Mocha made landfal...