DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Rescuers on Monday evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 12 feet deep along western Burma's coast after a powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications. Six deaths were reported, but the true impact was not yet clear in one of Asia's least-developed countries.
Strong winds injured more than 700 of about 20,000 people who were sheltering in sturdier buildings on the highlands of Sittwe township, such as monasteries, pagodas and schools, according to a leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association in Sittwe. He asked not to be named due to fear of reprisals from the authorities in the military-run country.
Seawater raced into more than 10 low-lying wards near the shore as Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state Sunday afternoon, he said. Residents moved to roofs and higher floors, while the wind and storm surge prevented immediate rescue.
"After 4 p.m. yesterday, the storm weakened a bit, but the water did not fall back. Most of them sat on the roof and at the high places of their houses the whole night. The wind blew all night," the rescue group leader said.
Water was still about 5 feet high in flooded areas later Monday, but rescues were being made as the wind calmed and the sun rose in the sky. He asked civil society organizations and authorities to send aid and help evacuate residents.
Six deaths were reported by Burma media and rescue groups. Several injuries were reported in neighboring Bangladesh, which was spared the predicted direct hit.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that ruling military authorities adopted in 1989. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other regime opponents have refused to adopt the name change, as have the U.S. and Britain.
Mocha made landfall near Sittwe township with winds blowing up to 130 miles per hour, Burma's Meteorological Department said. By midday Monday, it had weakened to a tropical depression, according to the India Meteorological Department.
The State Administration Council issued disaster declarations for 17 townships in Rakhine state.
High winds crumpled cell phone towers, but in videos collected by local media before communications were lost, deep water raced through streets and wind blew off roofs.
Burma's military information office said the storm had damaged houses and electrical transformers in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said roofs were torn off buildings on the Coco Islands, about 264 miles southwest of the country's largest city, Yangon.
Volunteers previously said shelters in Sittwe did not have enough food after more people arrived there seeking help.
Mocha largely spared the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar, which initially had been in the storm's predicted path. Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the cyclone veered east.
A Bangladesh government official, Enamur Rahman, said the damage was still being assessed, but that about 2,000 homes had been destroyed and 10,000 others were damaged on Saint Martin's Island and Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district.
He said no deaths were reported.
About a dozen people were injured on Saint Martin's Island, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported.
U.N. agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh had pre-positioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances in the refugee camps that house more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Burma.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Burma with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.
In this photo provided by Myanmar Military True News Information Team on Monday, May 15, 2023, soldiers and polices unload relief items for victims at airport after Cyclone Mocha in Sittwe township, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Rescuers on Monday evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet) deep along western Myanmar's coast after the powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications. (Military True News Information Team via AP)Gallery: Cyclone floods homes, cuts communications in western Myanmar
