Tropical Cyclone Mocha formed in the Bay of Bengal on 11 May 2023 and continued to intensify as it moved towards Myanmar and Bangladesh where it made landfall in the afternoon of the 14 May.
Cyclone Mocha is the first storm to form in the Bay of Bengal this year. It hit several coastal areas in Bangladesh on 14 May with gusts of wind of up to 200 mph and a storm surge of around 4 metres.
Bangladesh evacuated over 500,000 people as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned of big humanitarian impacts once the storm made landfall. A further 1000 people who were trapped by seawater 3.6 metres deep were evacuated after the category 5 storm had hit. Six people have been reported deceased and many injured across Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Due to its intensity, which is thought to be have been escalated by climate change, Cyclone Mocha inundated several low-lying areas of the delta nation of Bangladesh which triggered landslides and flash floods. Consequently, more than 1300 shelters have been destroyed since the start of the storm.
The storm dissipated quickly as it moved inland after it had lost the warm sea that helped fuel it but not before it destroyed thousands of homes and other infrastructure.
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