'Extremely severe' Cyclone Mocha to hit Bangladesh, Myanmar coasts tomorrow

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday said that Cyclone Mocha would intensify into an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" by Sunday. The weather department further warned that the cyclone would cross southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar coasts around noon on Sunday. The maximum sustained wind speed would be 150-160 km/hr, gusting to 175 km/hr, and storm surging up to 12 feet.

Amid Cyclone Mocha's intensification, the met department also advised fishermen not to go into the deep sea of the north Bay of Bengal until Sunday. Furthermore, the IMD on Friday issued a "heavy rainfall" alert for Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and south Assam on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kerala, Odisha, and Karnataka will also reportedly experience moderate rainfall along with thunderstorms.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed 200 rescuers across West Bengal and eight teams in vulnerable areas, including Digha, after the IMD upped its warnings on Cyclone Mocha. Hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh are being evacuated to safer places ahead of the cyclone's landfall, reported BBC. Notably, this is one of the most powerful cyclones in Bangladesh in nearly 20 years.