DHAKA, Bangladesh/NEW DELHI, India

Severe cyclone storm “Yaas” will mostly hit the West Bengal of India and fall over Bangladesh with warning signal number two, according to official Bangladeshi sources.

“We hope that the severity of the storm will not be high in Bangladesh like India and that’s why we have warned people with signal number two,” Md Mohsin, the secretary of disaster management and relief ministry, told Anadolu Agency over the phone Tuesday morning.

Mohsin, however, added that it does not mean that the government is not alert. “We are fully prepared to contain the casualties of the storm to the minimum level”.

All cyclone shelters have been kept ready with sufficient amounts of hand sanitizer and facemasks for people so that the prevailing coronavirus pandemic does not spread due to the gathering during the cyclone, he said.

Meanwhile, according to a special weather bulletin released by Bangladesh Meteorological Department Tuesday morning, the severe cyclonic storm Yaas is likely to intensify further and move in the northern-northwestern direction.

The bulletin added that the maximum sustained wind speed within 64 kilometers (39 miles) of the severe cyclone center is about 89 km (55 mi) per hour and has been rising to 117 km (72 mi) per hour in gusts and squalls.

“Sea will remain high near the severe cyclone center.”

The country’s maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla, and Parya have been advised to continue hoisting distant warning signal-2.

“All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay and the deep sea have been advised to take shelter and remain there until further notice,” the bulletin said.

High alert for Rohingya at remote isle

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi authorities have taken preparations for 20,000 Rohingya at a remote island of Bhasan Char to protect them from the severe Cyclone Yaas, according to sources.

Authorities have asked all Rohingya on the island to go to the cyclone shelters as they are likely to face a big cyclone for the first time.

The naval force of the country on the island is also on high alert to contain any untoward incident.

The government has built 120 cluster villages on the 40 sq-km (15-sq-mi) island under a housing project for accommodating 100,000 of the nearly 1 million Rohingya sheltered in cramped camps in Cox's Bazar.

According to government officials, the houses have been built four feet above the ground with concrete blocks.

The entire housing site is protected by a 13-km (8-mile) long flood embankment. There are also 120 cyclone shelters, which are planned to be used as schools, medical, and community centers.

Frequent disasters

The south Asian delta nation has been frequently facing natural disasters for decades as it is also one of the world's most affected countries in climate change impacts.

In the last five decades, nearly half a million people in the country died due to more than one dozen cyclones, according to official records.

After the disastrous Cyclone Sidr of 2007, Bangladeshi authorities have constructed many cyclone shelters and developed other settlements to contain the damages of natural disasters, resulting in comparatively fewer casualties in the following natural calamities.

Thirty-one people died in the May 2020 Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh that also hit parts of neighboring India.

On the eve of Cyclone Yaas, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday virtually inaugurated 225 facilities, including 110 multipurpose cyclone shelters, 30 flood shelters, 30 district relief and disaster management information centers, and five large shelters.

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Md. Enamur Rahman on Saturday said at a media briefing that around 42,000 settlements have been kept ready with sufficient facemasks and hand sanitizers to shelter people during the cyclone amid the global pandemic.

India on alert

Many Indian states on the eastern coast have been put on alert ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Yaas in the Bay of Bengal.

Cyclone Yaas is going to intensify into a "very severe cyclonic storm" in the next 12 hours, predicted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday.

“It would continue to move north-north-westwards, intensify further and reach Northwest Bay of Bengal near north Odisha and West Bengal coasts by May 26 early morning,” said a statement by the IMD.

“It is very likely to cross north Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar islands around noon of May 26 as a very severe cyclonic storm,” it added.

It is expected to make a landfall between Paradip and Sagar islands (in West Bengal) close to Balasore in Odisha on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday reviewed preparations, including evacuation of people in vulnerable coastal areas.

In a video conference with the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal, and the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Amit Shah said a control room is functioning in the Home Affairs Ministry, which can be contacted by them any time for assistance.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the state is targeting to shift at least 1 million people to safer places in a bid to avoid any loss of life, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

At least 20 districts of West Bengal might get affected because of Cyclone Yaas, while 45 teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed in the state.