At least 10,000 houses were damaged in Cox's Bazar, with 1,200 of them being on vulnerable St Martin's Island off the coast of Teknaf.  Despite the widespread damage, there were no reports of casualties as of filing this report. Cox's Bazar city, Sadar upazila, Maheshkhali upazila, Kutubdia upazila, and Ramu upazila were all hit by the cyclone, and locals are fearful of the potential for massive losses being uncovered as people return to their daily lives at home. Also Read: Cyclone Mocha completes landfall, ports now advised to raise signal No. 3 Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Shaheen Imran has confirmed that the cyclone's fury has ceased and that the 2.5 lakh people in shelters will be able to return home pending the authorities' green light. “However, the extent of the damage is still being assessed and will be reported later,” the DC said. The cyclone caused extensive damage in Teknaf and St. Martin, with a lot of trees falling in isolated areas of St. Martin, Teknaf Sadar and Municipal areas, Sabrang, Dailpara, and Jadimura. Also Read: Cyclone Mocha weakens slightly, lies over Maynmar land: BMD People have been seen removing trees from roads in different areas. According to Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Kamruzzaman, there are reports of extensive damage in Teknaf and Saint Martin, with trees being uprooted and houses being destroyed in some areas.  Chairman of St Martin union parishad, Mujibur Rahman, said that although the wind speed has decreased in St Martin since evening, many houses have been blown away, and some people have been injured. More accurate, precise measures of the damage done by Mocha will have to wait till tomorrow, most probably.  

As many as 15 houses were gutted in a massive fire in Reserve Bazar Mohsin Colony area of Rangamati town on Saturday, officials said. The fire broke out at a house in the Mohsin Colony around 12:30pm on Saturday and soon engulfed  adjacent houses, said Md Iqbal Hossain, station officer of Rangamati District Fire Service. Read more: 16 shops gutted in Khulna market fire On information, three fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control after an hour, he said "The reason behind the fire could not be known immediately." No injury or casualty was reported. Read more: 15 shops gutted in Natore fire However, it's not possible to immediately assess the extent of damage caused by the fire.

One couple returned home Friday to find the mailbox about the only thing left standing. Charred cars and a burned trampoline lay outside smoldering houses. On some blocks, homes reduced to smoking ruins stood next to ones practically unscathed by the flames. Colorado residents driven from their neighborhoods by a terrifying, wind-whipped wildfire got their first, heartbreaking look at the damage the morning after, while others could only wait and wonder whether their homes were among the more than 500 feared destroyed. At least seven people were injured, but remarkably there were no immediate reports of any deaths or anyone missing in the aftermath of the blaze outside Denver. Cathy Glaab found that her home in the town of Superior where she lives with her husband had been turned into a pile of charred and twisted debris. It was one of seven houses in a row that burned to the ground. “The mailbox is standing,” Glaab said, trying to crack a smile through tears. She added sadly, “So many memories.” Despite the devastation, she said they intend to rebuild the house they had since 1998. They love that the land backs up to a natural space, and they have a view of the mountains from the back. READ: Colorado wildfires burn hundreds of homes, force evacuations Rick Dixon feared there would be nothing to return to after he saw firefighters try to save his burning home on the news. On Friday, Dixon, his wife and 21-year-old son found it mostly gutted with a gaping hole in the roof but still standing. Only smoldering rubble remained where several neighboring homes once stood in a row immediately next to theirs. “We thought we lost everything,” he said, as he held his mother-in-law’s china in padded containers. They also retrieved sculptures that belonged to Dixon’s father and piles of clothes still on hangers. The wildfire erupted Thursday in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000. Tens of thousands were ordered to flee as the flames swept over drought-stricken neighborhoods with alarming speed, propelled by guests up to 105 mph (169 kph). At a Costco in Superior, two store employees came running toward the checkout lines, one of them shouting, “Everyone evacuate, evacuate, evacuate!” said Katrina Peterson, who was inside. A video she made showed dark skies and whirling debris outside. The falling ash filled her ears, and she had to squint to keep it from getting in her eyes. The store was left standing. The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Emergency authorities said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out. With some roads still closed Friday, people walked back to their homes to get clothes or medicine, turn the water off to prevent the pipes from freezing, or see if they still had a house. They left carrying backpacks and pulling suitcases or wagons down the sidewalk. David Marks stood on a hillside overlooking Superior with others, using a pair of binoculars and a long-range camera lens to see if his house, and those of his neighbors, were still there, but he couldn't tell for sure whether his place was OK. He said at least three friends lost their homes. He had watched from the hillside as the neighborhood burned. “By the time I got up here, the houses were completely engulfed,” he said. “I mean, it happened so quickly. I’ve never seen anything like that. … Just house after house, fences, just stuff flying through the air, just caught on fire.” By first light Friday, the towering flames that had lit up the night sky had subsided and the winds had died down. Light snow soon began to fall, and the blaze, which burned at least 9.4 square miles (24 square kilometers), was no longer considered an immediate threat. “We might have our very own New Year’s miracle on our hands if it holds up that there was no loss of life,” Gov. Jared Polis said, noting that many people had just minutes to evacuate. READ: Father, son arrested in wildfire that threatened Lake Tahoe The wildfire broke out unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow so far. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said more than 500 homes were probably destroyed. He and the governor said as many as 1,000 homes might have been lost, though that won’t be known until crews can assess the damage. “It’s unbelievable when you look at the devastation that we don’t have a list of 100 missing persons,” the sheriff said. The sheriff said some communities were reduced to just "smoking holes in the ground.” He urged residents to wait for the all-clear to go back because of the danger of fire and fallen power lines. Sarah Owens, her husband, adult son and their dog got out of their Superior home within 10 minutes of learning about the evacuation from a Facebook post. But as everyone tried leaving by way of the winding streets of the well-to-do Rock Creek neighborhood, it took them 1 ½ hours to go 2 miles (3.2 kilometers). “The good news is I think our house may be OK,” Owens said. But from now on, she said, she plans to have a bag packed in case of another fire. “I never thought a brush fire could cause this kind of destruction,” Owens said. “I want to stay here. No matter where you live, there are always going to be natural disasters." Superior and Louisville are filled with middle- and upper-middle-class subdivisions with shopping centers, parks and schools. The area is between Denver and Boulder, home to the University of Colorado. Scientists say climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. Ninety percent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and it hasn’t seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. Denver set a record for consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on Dec. 10, its last snowfall before the wildfires broke out. Bruce and Mary Janda faced the loss of their Louisville home of 25 years in person Friday after learning it had been destroyed through a neighbor’s photos. “We knew that the house was totaled, but I felt the need to see it, see what the rest of the neighborhood looked like,” Bruce Janda said. “We’re a very close knit community on this street. We all know each other and we all love each other. It’s hard to see this happen to all of us.”

At least 70 houses, a primary school and  three shops  were gutted in a fire which broke out at Talukdarpara in Roangchhari upazila of Bandarban district early Tuesday. Chahai Marma, chairman of Roangchhari Upazila, said the fire originated from an oven  early this morning and spread soon. Read:Fire breaks out in Sundarbans again However, the firefighting units failed to reach the area for lack of communication facilities and the fire was doused with the help of local people. On information, the army provided some food and financial assistance to the victims who have lost their dwellings. The estimated loss caused by the fire could go up to Tk 5 crore, said Chahai Marma.  

Some 53,500 more homeless and landless families are going to get semi-pucca houses in June under the Ashrayan-2 project. Earlier in January, some 70,000 homeless and landless families received tin-shed homes along with two decimals of land  under the special project run out of the Prime Minister's Office in the Mujib Year. Now the second phase of distribution of the semi-pucca houses will start early June, according to the plan taken in a meeting held with PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus in the chair Monday. Also read: Hasina inaugurates home distribution under Ashrayan-2 Project The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office to review the progress over the ongoing construction of houses under the Ashrayan-2 project.   PMO Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah also spoke at the meeting, while Project Director of Ashrayan-2 Md Mahbub Hossain made a power-point presentation. All divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, upazila nirbahi officers (UNO) were virtually connected with the meeting. In the meeting, the field-level administration was directed to complete the construction of houses within the stipulated time maintaining the quality in works without any deviation. Alongside expediting the present construction works, the field officials were also asked to take preparations to construct another 125,000 houses for homeless people in the next year. The Principal Secretary directed the field officials not to compromise the quality of the houses. “If we find any deviation in it, we’ll show zero tolerance.  Any deviation will in no way be tolerated. Don’t take it lightly. We’ll not let anyone tarnish the image of the project or the initiative,” he said. Dr Kaikaus also said the noble deed like construction for homeless people is an excellent opportunity for the officers to show their efficiency in their career. He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s programme to alleviate poverty by providing homeless with houses is a rare model in the world. The Principal Secretary asked to prepare a database of beneficiaries of the Ashrayan project. Speaking at the meeting, the PMO Secretary asked the field officials to send the proposal to purchase lands for construction of the 125,000 houses in the next phase to the project director within the 15 days. Action will have to be taken immediately against anomalies, if any, Tofazzel Hossain added. In the second phase, the total number of allotted houses is 53,434. Of them, 7,280 houses in Dhaka division, while 2,512 in Mymensingh, 10,562 in Chattogram, 12,391 in Rangpur, 7,172 in Rajshahi, 3,911 in Khulna, 7,627 in Barishal and 1979 in Sylhet division.

Gazipur, Aug 30 (UNB) - Eight warehouses of garment scraps (locally called ‘jhut’) and four houses were gutted in a devastating fire at Ambag of Konabari area on Friday.