Millions of people were being moved to safety as one of the fiercest cyclones in years barreled toward India and Bangladesh yesterday, but with evacuation plans complicated by COVID-19 precautions.
Super Cyclone Amphan is expected to pack winds gusting up to 185kph when it hits eastern India and Bangladesh this afternoon or evening, and with a storm surge of several meters, forecasters said.
Bangladesh authorities fear it could be the most powerful since Cyclone Sidr devastated the country in 2007, killing about 3,500 people — mostly due to a deluge of sea water sweeping in.
Bangladeshi Junior Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman yesterday said that they have already evacuated several thousand people from low-lying areas.
“We will evacuate up to 2.2 million and try to keep casualties at zero,” Rahman said.
To ensure social distancing in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cyclone shelters has been doubled by using schools, with masks compulsory, Rahman said.
“We are also keeping separate isolation rooms in the shelters for any infected patients,” he added.
Yamin Chowdhury, a divisional commissioner in Bangladesh’s Barisal District, said that the coast guard was helping to bring back thousands of people from remote islands.
Fishing boats have been ordered to return to shore and all ports and fish landing stations shut down.
“Coastal dwellers in Bangladesh are facing an impossible choice,” Snigdha Chakraborty, country manager for aid group Catholic Relief Services, said in a statement.
“There is limited space in existing evacuation shelters and people who have been on COVID-19 lockdown might hesitate to leave their less-sturdy homes to go to a central — and possibly crowded — shelter,” Chakraborty said.
She said that there would be “grim days ahead,” with poor sanitation, limited access to safe water and health facilities.
The COVID-19 lockdown had also cut off many people’s income and eaten up their cash reserves, she added.
In India, Manturam Pakhira, a minister of state in the Council of Ministers of West Bengal, said that more than 200,000 people were being evacuated from coastal districts and the Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest area.
“Authorities are also supplying masks and sanitizers and making arrangements so that they can maintain safe distance from each other,” he said.
Arjun Manna, who works for the WWF in the Sundarbans, told reporters that loud speakers were urging locals “to wear a mask and maintain social distancing in the shelters.”
Odisha State Disaster Management Authority Managing Director Pradeep Kumar Jena told AFP that 20,000 people have been evacuated from Odisha, with 600 disaster teams “pre-positioned” and contractors standing by with diggers and chainsaws.
“We will evacuate more people depending on the situation. No one will be allowed to stay in huts with thatched roofs in coastal areas,” Jena said.
He also said that to ensure social distancing, additional temporary shelters have been identified, with the state ready to house 1.1 million people if needed.
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