Powerful Cyclone Mocha floods homes, cuts communications in western Myanmar, at least 700 injured
Dhaka (AP): Rescuers early Monday evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet ) deep along western Myanmar's coast after a powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications in one of Asia's least developed countries. The extent of the damage and the death toll were not yet known.
Strong winds injured more than 700 of about 20,000 people who were sheltering in sturdier buildings on the highlands of Sittwe township such as monasteries, pagodas and schools, according to a leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association in Sittwe. He asked not to be named due to fear of reprisals from the authorities in the military-run country.
Seawater raced into more than 10 low-lying wards near the shore as Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state Sunday afternoon, he said. Residents moved to roofs and higher floors, while the wind and storm surge prevented immediate rescue.
"After 4 p.m. yesterday, the storm weakened a bit, but the water did not fall back. Most of them sat on the roof and at the high places of their houses the whole night. The wind blew all night," the rescue group leader said.
Water was still about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high in flooded areas Monday morning, but rescues were being made as the wind calmed and the sun rose in the sky. He asked civil society organizations and authorities to send aid and help evacuate residents.
At least three deaths had been reported earlier in Myanmar, and several injuries were reported in neighboring Bangladesh, which was spared the predicted direct hit.
Mocha made landfall near Sittwe township with winds blowing up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour, Myanmar's Meteorological Department said. By Monday morning, it was downgraded from its severe status and was steadily weakening over land, according to the India Meteorological Department.
High winds crumpled cell phone towers during the day, cutting off communications. In videos collected by local media before communications were lost, deep water raced through streets and wind blew off roofs.
Myanmar's military information office said the storm had damaged houses, electrical transformers, cell phone towers, boats and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said roofs were torn off buildings on the Coco Islands, about 425 kilometers (264 miles) southwest of the country's largest city, Yangon.
Volunteers previously said shelters in Sittwe did not have enough food after more people arrived there seeking help.
Mocha largely spared the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar, which initially had been in the storm's predicted path. Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the cyclone veered east.
About a dozen people were injured on Saint Martin's Island, while some 300 homes were either destroyed or damaged, leading Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo reported.
U.N. agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh had prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances in the refugee camps that house more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.
Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.
Climate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days. Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020 continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation.
"As long as oceans are warm and winds are favorable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period," Koll said.
Tropical cyclones, which are called hurricanes or typhoons in other regions, are among the world's most devastating natural disasters when they hit densely populated coastal areas.
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Suvendu Adhikari says Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel taught Gaza”
Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”
Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.
Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.
Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.
Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.
The @BJP4India’s Bengal ‘face’ wants a Gaza like operation against Bangladesh. Dog whistles that the @narendramodi government is for ‘Hindus’ only. Do you concur with this @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar ? Dirty politics of Divide and Rule won’t work in Bengal, @SuvenduWB pic.twitter.com/vLWm9b3AXb
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) December 27, 2025
