Deep depression in Bay may turn to cyclone 'Midhili' by tonight: Enamur

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman on Thursday said that the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal may turn into cyclone 'Midhili' by tonight and cross the Bangladesh coast by Friday evening.

"The deep depression may turn into a cyclonic storm between 12 midnight today and early hours of tomorrow," he told after holding a meeting of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme Implementation Board at the Secretariat in Dhaka this evening. 

About 11 districts of the country's coastal regions are likely to be affected by the cyclone, he said. The districts are Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Bhola, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat and Chattogram.

If the deep depression turns into the cyclone 'Midhili', wind speeds will be 64 to 88 kmph at the centre of the storm, Enamur said, adding that it may hit the coast with maximum wind speed of 90 kmph.

According to the latest bulletin of the met office, the depression was centered about 625 kilometer southwest of Chattogram, 590 kilometer southwest of Cox's Bazar and 490 kilometer southwest of Mongla and Payra ports at 6pm today.

Maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep hoisted the local cautionary signal three as the met office predicted sea will remain moderate near the deep depression centre. 

"Analyzing the speed of the depression, we can predict it would hit coastal areas as a cyclone between 12 noon and 6pm on Friday," Enamur said.

"Rice, dry food, cattle feed and baby food, which we allocated to the coastal districts during the cylone 'Hamoon' last month, remained in storages. The cash money allocated during that time also remains on the hands of district administrations," he said, adding that they will use and sped these now if necessary. 

"If more assistance is needed, let us know and we will arrange it immediately," the state minister said.

Noting that it is a category-one cyclone, he said, here the risk is low. "So, we will work to evacuate those people who are living on the coastal areas very closed to sea," Enamur said.

Satkhira district administration at meeting today took all-out preparation to tackle the predicted cyclone and prepared 270 shelter centres. Besides, more than 1000 of pucca establishments have been prepared as alternative shelter centres.

Satkhira Deputy Commissioner Humayun Kabir presided over the meeting.

Bagerhat district administration also held a meeting today with Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Khalid Hossain in the chair over the preparation to combat the predicted storm.

Khalid said cash Taka 9 lakh, 650 metric tons of rice and 359 cyclone shelters remained ready to deal with the calamity. 

About 1,920 CPB members and 500 members of various voluntary organizations including Red Crescent, BNCC are ready to face the cyclone, he said and urged different NGOs to take preparation to minimize the consequences of the cyclone. 

According to the latest weather bulletin, under the peripheral effect of the deep depression, heavy to very heavy rainfall with gusty or squally wind may occur over the North Bay and adjoining offshore areas, chars and coastal areas of the country. 

All fishing boats and trawlers over the North Bay and deep sea have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice.

Source: BSS