C T Online Desk: All launch movement from Dhaka has been suspended and sea-bound vessels have been asked to leave Chattogram port jetties as cyclone Remal is all set to start hitting Bangladesh from Sunday noon.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department is likely to issue the worst danger signal 10 by Sunday noon, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mohibbur Rahman said Saturday.
However, the government is prepared at all levels to deal with the possible impact of the severe cyclone, the state minister told reporters at his office.
About 15 coastal districts including Khulna, Cumilla and Chattogram are likely to be inundated by tidal surges with 3-5 feet above normal heights Sunday, while all the eight divisions of the country will be drenched by heavy (34-88 mm) to very heavy rainfall (289 mm).
The cyclone took shape past Sunday midnight and the Bangladesh Meteorological Department had already asked Payra and Mongla ports to hoist danger signal seven. The Met office issued signal six for Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar.
Adhering to the weather office’s recommendations, the Chattogram port authority has issued its own second most dangerous signal number three: ordering all vessels at the outer anchorage to move out into the deep sea during the first day-time tides of 26 May.
The Ministry of Shipping suspended the movement of all launches from Dhaka river port from 10pm Saturday, in an urgent Saturday night press statement.
“A total of 78,000 volunteers from the Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) have been kept ready to deal with cyclone ‘Remal’ in the coastal district,” State Minister Mohibbur said Saturday.
Around 4,000 cyclone shelter centers have been readied in the coastal districts, equipped with adequate dry food supplies, he added.
