Mocha update

This more comprehensive product now replaces the daily Flash Updates that were previously issued by OCHA Myanmar on Cyclone Mocha. This Sit Rep is produced by OCHA in collaboration with the seven operating humanitarian clusters and their sub-working groups in Myanmar. The humanitarian response section is not necessarily reflective of all humanitarian interventions undertaken on the ground but rather those voluntarily reported by partners. Sit Reps are now being issued weekly. HIGHLIGHTS • The humanitarian access situation in cyclone-hit Rakhine state has deteriorated with existing travel authorizations (TAs) for humanitarian organizations suspended this week pending new, centralized discussions in Nay Pyi Taw. • Initial approval for humanitarian distribution and transportation plans for cyclone-affected townships in Rakhine have also been rescinded pending further Nay Pyi Taw-level deliberations. Similar plans in Chin are also pending. • Some requests for the replenishment of relief supplies from outside the country have been approved, but with significant conditions. Others remain pending. • The suspension of access in Rakhine brings a stop to activities that have been reaching hundreds of thousands of people. • To date, more than 110,000 affected people have received shelter and other essential relief items. • Food assistance had reached almost 300,000 affected people in Rakhine state alone. • In Rakhine, partners were distributing seeds and organic fertilizers to provid...

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...

Cyclone Mocha Updates: Mocha set to intensify into very severe cyclone, head towards Bangladesh-Myanmar coast Cyclone Mocha was gaining strength and set to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Friday morning, packing winds of up to 135 kmph, and likely to move towards the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast, the weather office said on Thursday night. At 5:30 pm, the cyclonic storm lay over south-east Bay of Bengal, about 520 km west of Port Blair and 1,100 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazaar, a fishing port in Bangladesh, the India Meteorological Department said. Stay with TOI for all updates: Read Less Cyclone Mocha was gaining strength and set to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Friday morning, packing winds of up to 135 kmph, and likely to move towards the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast, the weather office said on Thursday night. At 5:30 pm, the cyclonic storm lay over south-east Bay of Bengal, about 520 km west of Port Blair and 1,100 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazaar, a fishing port in Bangladesh, the India Meteorological Department said. Cyclonic storm Mocha will intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by midnight of Thursday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. "Cyclonic storm Mocha over the southeast Bay of Bengal about 510 km west-southwest of Port Blair, 1190 km south-southwest of Coxs Bazar (Bangladesh). To intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by midnight of today," tweeted IMD. The southern districts of West Bengal reeled under the heat conditio...

TROPICAL CYCLONE MOCHA Tropical Cyclone Update TROPICAL CYCLONE MOCHA Public Advisory WTIO31 PGTW 141500MSGID/GENADMIN/JOINT TYPHOON WRNCEN PEARL HARBOR HI//SUBJ/TROPICAL CYCLONE 01B (MOCHA) WARNING NR 015//RMKS/1. TROPICAL CYCLONE 01B (MOCHA) WARNING NR 015 01 ACTIVE TROPICAL CYCLONE IN NORTHIO MAX SUSTAINED WINDS BASED ON ONE-MINUTE AVERAGE WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY --- WARNING POSITION: 141200Z --- NEAR 20.8N 93.1E MOVEMENT PAST SIX HOURS - 030 DEGREES AT 11 KTS POSITION ACCURATE TO WITHIN 060 NM POSITION BASED ON CENTER LOCATED BY SATELLITE PRESENT WIND DISTRIBUTION: MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 105 KT, GUSTS 130 KT WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY DISSIPATING AS A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE OVER LAND RADIUS OF 064 KT WINDS - 020 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT 035 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT 030 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT 020 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT RADIUS OF 050 KT WINDS - 055 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT 080 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT 060 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT 050 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT RADIUS OF 034 KT WINDS - 130 NM NORTHEAST QUADRANT 160 NM SOUTHEAST QUADRANT 125 NM SOUTHWEST QUADRANT 100 NM NORTHWEST QUADRANT REPEAT POSIT: 20.8N 93.1E --- FORECASTS: 12 HRS, VALID AT: 150000Z --- 23.1N 94.7E MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 065 KT, GUSTS 080 KT WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY DISSIPATING AS A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE OVER LAND VECTOR TO 24 HR POSIT: 040 DEG/ 15 KTS --- 24 HRS, VALID AT: 151200Z --- 25.3N 96.8E MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 030 KT, GUSTS 040 KT WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ON...

There remains some disagreement as to its landfall intensity. The storm is likely to come ashore as a major hurricane equivalent of Category 3 or higher. It could reach shore as a Category 4 or higher. Mocha continues to be stronger than forecast in the short term, which may mean a stronger system as it reaches land. Near-shore winds sustained above 100 mph, gusting perhaps as high as twice that, will probably shred many things in their path, knocking over structures and stripping trees of vegetation. The most destructive winds are associated with the eyewall of the storm, a band around the center that largely impacts places within about 25 miles of the eye. Devastating wind threats wane as the storm heads inland, but some damaging gusts are likely to progress several hundred miles from shore. A large swath of at least 5 to 10 inches of rain is likely for much of the northern Myanmar coastal region and into Bangladesh. Potentially flooding rain then moves inland toward parts of India and ultimately toward Tibet. Some spots, especially higher elevations inland, could see as much as a foot or more of rain from the storm through early next week. Ongoing war in Myanmar has also led to the creation of several large mega camps for the displaced. There is potential for hundreds of thousands of unhoused individuals to face the fury of surge, wind and rain from Mocha, including up to 1 million people in a camp just north of the border in Bangladesh.