Low likely to turn into cyclone

al surges, perhaps a tidal bore, warned Mannan.

He said that the low developed over the east-central Bay of Bengal, adjacent to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with maximum wind speed around the low recorded at 140 kilometres per hour on Saturday.

The low was still 1,000 kilometres away from the Bangladesh coast on Saturday afternoon but the signal number one was issued for Bangladesh’s all four maritime ports.

Fishermen have been prohibited from venturing into the deep sea or asked to return to the coast by today.

The track that most of the weather modelling predicted for the potential cyclone matched more or less the one taken by the super cyclone Amphan that hit Bangladesh’s Satkhira on May 20 last year with wind blowing over 150km per hour.

The sea surface temperature along West Bengal was recorded up to 30°C and it is one degree Celsius higher along the Bangladesh coast, providing a huge energy supply for the potential storm, said Biswajit Nath who teaches geography and environment at the University of Chittagong.

‘The potential storm has enough supply of energy for intensification just before it makes landfall,’ he said.

If the storm forms as predicted, it would be the first storm to form after the Amphan and the second to hit Bangladesh during the Covid crisis.

The developing cyclone on the Bay of Bengal has been named YAAS.

May is historically cyclone-prone in this part of the world. As many as 13 of the 33 historical cyclonic storms that have hit Bangladesh since 1960 were in May, according to BMD record.

Parts of the coastal Bangladesh, especially Khulna, still bear the brunt from Amphan that badly damaged embankment there with high tidal surges.

Many families displaced by Amphan could not yet return to their homes.

‘We have ordered local authorities to increase the number of cyclone shelters three times of what we originally have by including government buildings such as schools and colleges in order to ensure social distancing,’ cyclone preparedness programme director Ahmadul Haque told New Age.

Bangladesh has 4,053 cyclone shelters, he said, adding that the government was making transportation arrangement for emergency cyclone evacuation.

‘We have also instructed local authorities to repair damaged roads and build enough stocks of food and masks at cyclone shelters,’ he said.

The cyclone preparedness mechanism rolls into its second phase with the issuance of signal number four while emergency evacuation begins after signal number seven is hoisted.

The CPP is likely to sit in a meeting involving all relevant ministries today for deciding its next course of action.

Experts warned that the government might not get enough time for emergency evacuation as the effects of the storm like high wind and rain were likely to be felt from tomorrow.

‘There are far-off places from where travelling to a cyclone shelter might take two days,’ said AKM Saiful Islam who teaches water and flood management at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Ahead of the storm, a mild- to-moderate heat wave swept the divisions of Dhaka, Khulna and Barishal and the regions of Rangamati, Sitakunda, Cumilla, Chandpur, Noakhali, Feni, Srimangal, Rajshahi and Pabna on Saturday.

The heat wave is likely to continue today but may abate tomorrow with the advance of the storm likely to bring rain.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/138554/low-likely-to-turn-into-cyclone