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Powerful cyclone hits Bangladesh
KHULNA, Bangladesh - A powerful cyclone packing 149 mph winds 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, 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. EST), 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. No casualties were immediately reported, but rescue teams were on standby, forest official Mozharul Islam said in Khuln. 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.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone
KHULNA, Bangladesh - A powerful cyclone packing 149 mph winds 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, 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. EST), 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. No casualties were immediately reported, but rescue teams were on standby, forest official Mozharul Islam said in Khuln. 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.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone