The coastal areas of Satkhira district have been experiencing rainfall since Wednesday morning as Cyclonic storm "Dana" has formed in the Bay of Bengal. The coastal areas in Shyamnagar upazila including areas adjacent to the Sundarbans’s Gabura, Padmapukur, and Burigoalini are experiencing rain. Zulfikar Ali Ripon, acting officer of the Satkhira Weather office, said the depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclone on Wednesday and named ‘Dana.’  

As the Cyclonic storm ‘Mocha’ is brewing over the Bay of Bengal, panic gripped the residents of coastal areas of Bagerhat district due to the vulnerable state of dyke at several points. Residents of Sharankhola, Baleshwar, Pashur in Mongla and Panguchhi in Morelganj upazilas are passing sleepless nights, worrying over when and where the storm and high tide will hit. According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Mocha is likely to make landfall on Cox’s Bazar coast by Sunday (May 14). If the water rises 5 feet above normal, a number of villages will be flooded as 11km of embankment is at risk while around 25,000 shrimp enclosures may be washed away, said locals. Read More: 409 shelters prepared in Khulna as depression intensifies into Cyclone Mocha At least 446 cyclone shelters have been prepared in the district to accommodate people while 98% of boro paddy has been harvested in the district. Around 11 km of embankment at different points is in vulnerable condition. Many villages in the district will be inundated if the tidal water rises.

The local administration has estimated a loss of Tk 60 crore in damage caused by Cyclone Yaas in the coastal areas of Khulna district. Due to the impact of the cyclone, many houses, fish enclosures, some 100 kilometres of embankments and crop lands were damaged. Read: Cyclone Yaas disrupts normal life in 23 chars of Bhola The experts have estimated that the combined damage is worth up to Tk 60 crore. In Koyra upazila, 50 villages under four unions of the district have been flooded by the river water while the tidal surge entered the localities through 11 points of the flood-protection embankment as the water levelof Kapotakkho, Koyra and Shakbaria rivers increased 6-7 feet above the normal level. The local administration of Koyra upazila alone said the losses caused by the cyclone amount to Tk 35 crore. Fish farmers of the upazila are the worst affected as fish of some 2550 hectares of shrimp enclosures and ponds have been washed away, counting a loss of fish worth Tk 15 crore. Besides, the tidal surge inundated many low-lying areas of the upazila as embankments in many points including Dashhalia, Mathbari, Tetultala char, Angtihara, Gobra, Ghatakhali, Koyra headquarters, Katkata, Kashir Hatkhola, Katmarchar, Pabna, Kashir Khal, Hogla, Uttar Bedkashi, Gatir Gheri, Shakbaria, Noyani and Khorolkati have been damaged. GM Abdullah Al Mamun, chairman of Maharazpur union, said “The volunteers have repaired the risky points of the embankments but they failed to protect villages and the tidal surge entered into the locality through many points of the embankments.” Read: Yaas: How Bhasan Char prepared for the cyclone Sagar Hossain Soikat, project implementation officer of Koyra upazila, said “Thirty-five villages in the upazila have been flooded due to the impact of Cyclone Yaas, rendering 25,000 people marooned. We have made a list of the damaged things and we found Tk 35 crore damage.” Besides, 7050 houses were damaged during the cyclonic storm. Of these, 50 houses were fully damaged, 1200 houses were damaged partially and 5,800 houses were slightly damaged, said Sagar Hossain. Animesh Biswas, Koyra Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), said necessary assistance will be provided to the affected people. In Paikgachcha upazila, 86 kilometres of roads of ten unions and a municipality have been damaged while 28 kilometres of the embankment was partially damaged. Some 660 hectares of shrimp enclosures have been washed away, incurring a loss of Tk 1.15 crore. Besides, 10,000 people have been affected by the cyclone. Read:Cyclone Yaas: 4 teams formed to assess damage in the Sundarbans Imrul Kayesh, project implementation officer of the upazila, said a number of villages were inundated by the tidal surge. According to the sources in Dakope upazila, 200 hectares of fish enclosures were washed away and 34 kilometres of road, 24 kiloometre embankment, 15 mosques, five temples, and 2,828 houses were damaged. The overall estimate of losses caused by the cyclone in the upazila is Tk 11.27 crore.  

At least two deaths were reported Wednesday as Cyclone Yaas triggered storms and floods in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Reports sent in by UNB correspondents indicate that dozens of houses have been damaged and low-lying areas inundated, cutting off road communication in some areas. In Bhola, a man was killed after being hit by a falling tree branch during a storm triggered by Yaas in Lalmohan upazila of Bhola on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Abu Taher, 48, a local farmer. Bhola Deputy Commissioner Md Tawfiq-E-Lahi Chowdhury said Tk 20,000 has been provided to Taher’s family as assistance. Bhola has been seeing drizzle and strong wind since Wednesday morning. Cyclone Yaas has made landfall in India’s Odisha. Also read: Severe cyclonic storm Yaas weakens after hitting Odisha, WB coast Child drowns in Bagerhat Meanwhile, four-year-old Jinia died this afternoon after drowning near her house in Morrelganj upazila of Bagerhat. Morrelganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Delwar Hossain said that the roads and drains of the Upazila have been inundated due to an unusual increase in the water level of Panguchi River. Jinia fell into the overflowing drain and drowned, he said. Low-lying areas inundated in Khulna Low-lying areas in Koyra, Dacope and Paikgachha upazilas of Khulna were inundated by tidal surge triggered by Cyclone Yaas. The residents of the upazilas have been experiencing light rains or drizzles since Wednesday noon and the local administration has opened over 1,000 cyclone shelters. Also read: Impact of cyclone Yaas: Child drowns, 5000 families stranded in Bagerhat The local met office, meanwhile, recorded 21mm rainfall in the past two days. Lighter vessels sink in rough sea Twelve crew members were rescued after a lighter ship capsized in the Bay of Bengal today in the rough sea near Bhasanchar due to the impact of Cyclone Yaas. Squadron Leader Saiful Alom of Bangladesh Air Force, in charge of the rescue operations, confirmed UNB about the development. “Two rescue helicopters reached the spot within a very short time from Patenga Air Force Base and rescued 12 crew members who were floating in the middle of the sea,” he said. In Chattogram, the coastal areas of Patenga have been submerged in tidal waters due to the impact of the cyclone. Water is entering the locality through the embankment damaged by the strong waves, according to our correspondent. Also read: Ship capsize: Air Force helicopters rescue 12 sailors 50 houses destroyed in Jhenaidah Three persons were injured while some 50 houses were damaged in a storm at Armukhi village in Sadar upazila of Jhenaidah on Tuesday night. Kabir Hossain, chairman of Naldanga Union, said a two-kilometre stretch of the village from Kutipara to West Para was flattened during the storm lasting for about 15-20 seconds. The low-lying areas of Burigoalini union in Satkhira's Shyamnagar upazila have been inundated following heavy showers and the onrush of river water. Some 15 areas, including Gabura, Koikhali, Munshiganj and Padmapukur in the Burigoalini area of the upazila, were flooded Tuesday night after the river water level rose by three-to-four foot. However, hardly anyone has taken shelter at the cyclone shelters till Wednesday morning despite repeated appeals by the local administration.

Though the number of launch capsizes has decreased, different type of vessels accident is taking place on inland waterways round the year and deaths of people continue, said a report of two non-government organisations on Saturday.

Speakers at a discussion meeting in the capital on Saturday said most government measures taken to protect rivers and strengthen the river transport sector are positive but slow in implementation.

The government is constructing 139 polders in the coastal belt to protect the areas from tidal surges and floods, State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque said Saturday.

When the country is grappling with  coronavirus pandemic, cyclone ‘Amphan’ is approaching towards Bangladesh as an another danger, putting a big challenge to the authorities  to evacuate people in coastal areas maintaining social distancing and hygiene with limited resources.