Millions to evacuate as cyclone slams into Bangladesh

[Richard]

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- A powerful cyclone slammed into Bangladesh on Thursday night, tearing down flimsy houses, toppling trees and power poles, and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in the low-lying nation.

Tropical Cyclone Sidr swept in from the Bay of Bengal packing winds of 149 mph (240 kilometers per hour), buffeting southwestern coastal areas within a 155-mile radius of its eye with heavy rain and storm surges predicted to reach 20 feet high.

Sidr's eye crossed the Khulna-Barisal coast near the Sundarbans mangrove forests around 9:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. ET), the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said. It was centered over the Baleshwar River in Barguna district.

In the coastal districts of Bagerhat, Barisal and Bhola, residents said the storm flattened thousands of flimsy straw and mud huts, and uprooted trees and electric poles.

"We sitting out the storm by candlelight," resident Bishnu Prashad said by phone from Bagerhat.

At least 620,000 people had moved into official shelters and 3.2 million people were expected to be evacuated in all, said Ali Imam Majumder, a senior government official in Dhaka. Watch rush to evacuate as Sidr approaches »

 No casualties were immediately reported, but rescue teams were on standby, forest official Mozharul Islam said in Khulna.

Communications with remote forest areas and offshore islands were temporarily cut off.

"We have taken all precautions," Majumder said.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation, is prone to seasonal cyclones and floods that cause huge losses of life and property. The coastal area bordering eastern India is famous for the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, a world heritage site that is home to rare Royal Bengal Tigers.

The Meteorological Department had put the country's three major maritime ports -- Chittagong, Mongla and Cox's Bazar -- on the highest level of alert.

Ferry service and flights were halted across the coastal region.

Ships were warned to return to shore. Volunteers helped evacuate villagers to cyclone shelters, built of concrete on raised pilings. Some took refuge in "mud forts" built along the coast to resist tidal surges.

Schools, mosques and other public buildings were also turned into makeshift shelters. 

Many of the fishing boats in the region's coastal waters put down anchor at nearby shoals and islets that dot the South Asian country's shoreline.

The sea resort of Cox's Bazar was deserted after Wednesday's warning. Dozens of tourists were stranded in the offshore coral atoll of St. Martins as rough seas forced cruise boats and ships to stay ashore.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11...gletoolbar

[Polly]

There is way too much going on right now around the globe. 

[Richard]

I agree, it seems like every week there is some major event going on somewhere in this world.

[Polly]

It's one thing after another, Richard.

[Richard]

Cyclone toll reaches 1,100 in Bangladesh

By JULHAS ALAM, Associated Press Writer

A cyclone that slammed into the coast with 150 mph winds killed at least 1,100 people, isolating remote towns and villages swamped by a storm surge or hemmed in by piles of debris, aid workers and a Bangladeshi news agency said Friday.

Tropical Cyclone Sidr roared across the country's southwestern coast late Thursday with driving rain and high waves, leveling thousands of flimsy huts and forcing the evacuation of 650,000 villagers, officials said.

The United News of Bangladesh news agency said reporters deployed across the devastated region made their own count in each affected district and reached a toll of 1,100.

The government, which earlier put the death toll at 242, has acknowledged its trouble keeping count — with power and phone lines down in most remote areas — and said it expected the official number to rise significantly.

The cyclone destroyed homes, crops and fish farms in 15 coastal districts, local government officials and witnesses said. Relief workers struggled to ferry food and medicine Friday to hundreds of thousands of survivors, officials and aid workers said.

Hasanul Amin, assistant director of the cyclone preparedness program sponsored by the government and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, said that about a dozen teams have been deployed to conduct relief operations in the worst-hit areas in the country's southwest.

Aid workers struggled through washed-out roads and areas blocked by debris to deliver relief material to people stranded by the floodwaters. In Bagerhat, one of the hardest hit districts near the Bay of Bengal, some villagers waited for hours to get some dry biscuits and rice, United News reported.

"We have lost everything," Moshararf Hossain, local farmer, told a UNB reporter. "We have nowhere to go."

Another farmer, Alam, said he lost two brothers to the cyclone.

"Nothing can compensate for my loss, but still I need support from the government," said Alam.

Downpours and staggering winds spawned a water surge four feet high that swept through low-lying areas and some offshore islands, leaving them under water, said Nahid Sultana, an official of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.

Volunteers from international aid agencies including the U.N. World Food Program, Save the Children and the U.S.-based Christian aid group World Vision have joined the relief effort.

The WFP has begun distributing high-energy biscuits in devastated villages and in shelters, the agency said in a statement. Save the Children said their volunteers were helping to evacuate people across the battered region.

World Vision is putting together seven-day packages for families that will include rice, oil, sugar, salt, candles and blankets, according to Vince Edwards, the agency's Bangladesh director.

But Edwards said debris from the storm has blocked roads and rivers, making it difficult to reach all the areas that had been hit.

"There has been lot of damage to houses made of mud and bamboo and about 60 to 80 percent of the trees have been uprooted," Edwards said.

Power and communications in the capital, Dhaka, also remained down late Friday. Strong winds uprooted trees, snapped power and telecommunication lines and sent billboards flying through the air, injuring several people, said Ashraful Zaman, another official at the cyclone control room.

At least 650,000 coastal villagers moved Thursday to cyclone shelters where they were given emergency rations, Ali Imam Majumder, a senior government official, told reporters in Dhaka.

However by late evening Friday operations had resumed at the country's two main seaports — Chittagong and Mongla, as well Chittagong and Dhaka airports, authorities said.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation, is prone to seasonal cyclones and floods that cause huge losses of life and property. The coastal area borders eastern India and is famous for the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, a world heritage site that is home to rare Royal Bengal Tigers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone;_ylt=AsWLcgUzbG9H65bPR6MW_SYDW7oF. 

[Polly]

Remember when Bangladesh sent aid to our country when we were dealing with the aftermath of Katrina?

[Astrojewels]

I like how you say ‘mother nature’ Richard, some of these disasters are ‘man made’ yet the majority is the karmic debt owed to ‘mother earth’, many put their faith in the controllers and give them power, but even those who do control are limited to the vibration of our galaxy, they are here with us and bound by the same universal laws as we are.
I know many will disagree with me, but the truth is the collective thoughts of everyone on earth structures our reality, and part of that is destruction because as we enter a higher frequency, change is necessary and many humans are barbaric.
Every time a tree has been taken, a giant hole has been dug for gold or any other life crucial mineral! We have exposed the natural frequency that we call mother nature, it is like taking one stump from your home each year, eventually your house will collapse. You can not continually take without giving back; humans have been taking and taking without consciously thinking of the affects.
Disasters that include the elements water, air, fire and earth will increase over the next few years.

[Polly]

I would agree there are many levels involved in what is happening weather-wise.