Cyclone Mocha hits Bangladesh and Myanmar coast

A powerful cyclone has hit the coastlines of Bangladesh and Myanmar after intensifying into the equivalent of a category-five storm.

Cyclone Mocha brought with it heavy rain and strong winds, leaving residents in low-lying coastal areas fearful they may lose their homes. More than 1,300 bamboo shelters in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp, have been destroyed.

At least five people have been reported dead in Myanmar. Landslides and floods are also hitting the area.

As the storm approached, police patrolled the coastline in the town of Cox’s Bazar carrying loudspeakers, urging people to stay indoors. The streets emptied as the cyclone intensified – the skies darkened, the winds picked up pace and the rains pounded down.

Hundreds of people crammed into a school in the city which had been turned into a temporary cyclone shelter. Mothers with babies, young children, the elderly and the frail packed into any available space in the classrooms, sleeping on desks and sitting under them.

Authorities  say more than 500,000 people were evacuated from their homes in this south-eastern stretch of Bangladesh.

Storm surges of up to four metres could swamp villages in low-lying areas