Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh Tuesday packing winds of up to 117 kilometers per hour (73mph) after authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from low-lying coastal villages.
The severe cyclonic storm made landfall on the coast between Cox’s Bazar and the main port city of Chittagong at 6:00 am (0000 GMT), the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said in a special weather bulletin.
Bangladesh had raised its highest number 10 weather danger alert as the storm approached with officials quickly evacuating more than 300,000 people to cyclone shelters.
“They have been evacuated to at least 400 cyclone shelters, schools and government offices in the coastal areas,” Golam Mostofa, senior government bureaucrat who is coordinating the evacuation, told AFP.
Mostofa said they had not received any reports of casualties so far but some houses have been damaged and trees uprooted.
