Powerful Cyclone Mocha hits Bangladesh and Myanmar, killing at least three

Thousands have fled areas in Myanmar, but concerns remain for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

People in Shahporir, Bangladesh, hurry to a cyclone shelter after Cyclone Mocha made land in Teknaf. Reuters

A Shahporir islander makes repairs to his house roof, which was destroyed by the cyclone. AFP

Fallen trees in Kyauktaw in Myanmar's Rakhine state. AFP

Devastation left by Cyclone Mocha in Kyauktaw, Myanmar. AFP

Kyauktaw is lashed by the cyclone. AFP

Kyauktaw is lashed by the cyclone. AFP

Strong winds and heavy rainfall at a camp for displaced Rohingya people in Sittwe, Myanmar. Reuters

Two children seek shelter as rains caused by approaching Cyclone Mocha fall in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine State. AP

Taking shelter at a school in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Reuters

Bangladesh and Myanmar were bracing on Sunday as the extremely severe cyclone was set to hit their coastal areas, and authorities told thousands of people in both countries to seek shelter. AFP

Women take shelter with their children on Shahpori island, Bangladesh. AFP

A cow walks on an almost empty street in Kyauktaw, in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. AFP

People ride an autorickshaw amid heavy rains in Kyauktaw. AFP

Women shelter with their children on Shahpori island. AFP

People carry their belongings to a shelter on Shahpori island. AFP

A motorcyclist on a nearly empty road in Sittwe. AP

Thousands have taken shelter in monasteries and schools as the powerful Cyclone Mocha pounded the coast of Myanmar, tearing the roofs off buildings and killing at least three people.

The storm crashed ashore at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on Sunday, the Bangladeshi weather office said, uprooting trees and bringing driving rain to a region home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Mocha hit between Cox's Bazar, where nearly one million Rohingya refugees live in camps largely made up of flimsy shelters, and Sittwe in Myanmar, the office said.

The storm's centre hit Myanmar’s Rakhine state on Sunday afternoon with wind speeds of up to 209kpm, Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said.

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 in the city's highlands, said Tin Nyein Oo, who is volunteering in shelters in Sittwe.

Many live in areas more than three metres above sea level, where residents believe the storm surge cannot reach, he told AP.

“The storm has not yet entered, so we don’t have much difficulty,” he said. "However, there are too many people in the shelters and not enough toilets.

The US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre had earlier said there were winds up to 259kph, equivalent to a category 5 hurricane.

"Our camp houses, which are constructed with bamboo and tarpaulins, can be blown away in soft, light winds," Mohammad Sayed, 28, told AFP from Nayapara refugee camp in Bangladesh.

"The schools, which are designated as cyclone shelters ... are not strong shelters that can withstand the winds of a cyclone. We are scared."

Rescue worker Kyaw Kyaw Khaing said about 3,000 people had arrived to seek shelter in Pauktaw, about 25km inland from Sittwe.

"The wind is getting stronger at the moment," he said. "We distributed enough food for one or two meals to the people evacuated to temporary shelters. I don't think we will be able to send any food today due to the weather."

Thousands left Sittwe on Saturday, packing into lorries, cars and tuk-tuks and heading for higher ground inland as meteorologists warned of a storm surge of up to 3.5 metres.

A media account run by junta authorities in Rakhine showed what it said were fallen trees blocking a road near Sittwe.

"We are not OK because we didn't bring food and other things to cook," said Maung Win, 57, who spent the night in a shelter in Kyauktaw town. "We can only wait to get food from people's donations."

Bangladeshi authorities moved 190,000 people in Cox's Bazar and nearly 100,000 in Chittagong to safety, divisional commissioner Aminur Rahman told AFP late on Saturday.

The rain and wind were felt in Myanmar's commercial centre of Yangon, about 500km away, residents said on Sunday.

The Myanmar Red Cross Society said it was "preparing for a major emergency response".

In Bangladesh, authorities have banned Rohingya refugees from constructing concrete homes, fearing it may encourage them to settle permanently rather than return to Myanmar, from where they fled five years ago from a brutal military crackdown.

The camps are generally slightly inland but most are built on hillsides, exposing them to the dangers of landslides.

Forecasters expect the cyclone to bring a deluge of rain, which can trigger landslips.

"The wind started about 8.30 this morning and it's getting stronger," a Rohingya community leader in a displacement camp in Myanmar's Kyaukphyu told AFP.

"A house at the camp collapsed and the roof of a shelter built by UNHCR was blown away," they said.

Hundreds of people also fled Saint Martin's Island in Bangladesh, a resort area in the storm's path, with thousands more moving to cyclone shelters on the coral outcrop.

Those left behind said they feared the storm's approach.

We are in a panic because we don't have enough cyclone shelters here

Jahangir Sarwar,
resident of Saint Martin's Island, Bangladesh

"We are in a panic because we don't have enough cyclone shelters here," Jahangir Sarwar, 23, who lives on the island.

"We asked the administrators many times that everyone should be evacuated to a safe place in mainland Teknaf town. But no action was taken."

Cyclone Mocha is the most powerful storm to hit Bangladesh since Cyclone Sidr, Azizur Rahman, the head of the country's Meteorological Department, told AFP.

Sidr hit its southern coast in November 2007, killing more than 3,000 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Operations were suspended at Bangladesh's largest seaport, Chittagong, with boat transport and fishing halted.

Cyclones — the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the North-west Pacific — are a regular and deadly menace on the coast of the northern Indian Ocean where tens of millions of people live.

In 2008 Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta, killing at least 138,000 people.

Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.