Typhoon Mocha continues to strengthen into a category 5 storm

People evacuate to avoid Typhoon Mocha in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 13, 2023. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

According to the US National Hurricane Center, Mocha has winds of up to 259 km/h, equivalent to a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Mocha is forecast to make landfall in the area between Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) and Sittwe on the Rakhine coast - western Myanmar.

According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Cyclone Mocha will sweep across Cox's Bazar and is forecast to move north-northeast. Meanwhile, weather monitoring site Zoom Earth said the storm's center is still offshore.

"The wind is getting stronger at the moment," said Kyaw Kyaw Khaing, a rescue worker in Pauktaw town, about 25 km from Sittwe. On May 13, Nyaung-U town in Mandalay region, central Myanmar, recorded the highest daily rainfall in 58 years. Specifically, the rainfall measured in this town reached 161 mm, much higher than the 121 mm rainfall measured in May 2018.

People evacuate to avoid Typhoon Mocha in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 13, 2023. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

As Cyclone Mocha, forecast to be a major storm, could cause sea levels to rise as high as 4 meters, affecting 2 million people in its direct path, authorities in Bangladesh and Myanmar have evacuated about 400,000 people to safer locations.

According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department Director Azizur Rahman, Mocha is the strongest storm since Cyclone Sidr in November 2007, which hit the southern coast of Bangladesh, killing more than 3,000 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. Operations in Chittagong - Bangladesh's largest seaport - have been suspended.

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