Cyclone Hamoon moved into southeastern Bangladesh early Wednesday (October 25), bringing with it heavy winds and rains that battered hundreds of houses and left at least three dead.
Thousands of trees were uprooted while houses built with corrugated sheets were destroyed by the power of the storm. Hundreds of tarpaulin-covered bamboo shanties in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar were also damaged, according to local officials.
Authorities in Bangladesh said most people were evacuated to cyclone shelters in Cox’s Bazar before the storm made landfall, but many families who failed to reach the shelters were left to sleep outside under an open sky.
Power supply and internet connection remained down as of Wednesday afternoon, and road links to many of the towns near the main city remained blocked.
Cyclones are very common in the Bay of Bengal, especially during the pre- and post-monsoon period. Last year, Cyclone Sitrang barrelled into the nearby Chittagong district, flooding low-lying coastal areas and killing at least nine people.
(Source:Reuters)