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Deadly Cyclone Mocha kills at least 3, floods Myanmar port city, wrecks Bangladesh buildings

  • Packing winds of up to 195kph, Mocha hit between Cox’s Bazar – home to 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh – and Myanmar’s Sittwe
  • Streets in Sittwe were turned into rivers as the biggest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in more than a decade surged through the seaside town

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Strong winds and heavy rainfall is seen at ThekayPyin Rohingya camp, as Cyclone Mocha approaches, in Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar. Photo: Reuters

Cyclone Mocha crashed ashore in Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, uprooting trees, scattering flimsy homes in Rohingya displacement camps and bringing a storm surge into low-lying areas.

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Packing winds of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, Mocha hit between Cox’s Bazar, home to nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and Myanmar’s Sittwe, according to Bangladesh’s weather office.

Streets in Sittwe were turned into rivers as the biggest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in more than a decade surged through the seaside town.

“The water is gradually rising”, social worker Wai Hun Aung said from Sittwe. “The tide has reached to the drain in front of a school … Soon we will move our important belongings upstairs”.

The wind ripped apart homes made of tarpaulin and bamboo at one camp for displaced Rohingya at Kyaukphyu in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

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