Myanmar’s government warned Saturday that a new cyclone barreling north into the Bay of Bengal could threaten the country’s western coast next week, raising fears the storm could swamp low-lying camps housing tens of thousands of embattled Rohingya Muslims who fled sectarian violence last year.
The brunt of the cyclone is heading toward Chittagong, Bangladesh. But its direction could still shift northeast and hit Myanmar’s Rakhine state when it makes landfall at midweek, Myanmar’s Meteorology Department and humanitarian aid officials monitoring the situation said.
The storm is predicted to hit late Wednesday or Thursday morning, and heavy rains and strong winds are expected to batter Rakhine state regardless. Around 140,000 people — mostly Rohingya — are living in flimsy tents and makeshift shelters in the region after two outbreaks of Buddhist-Muslim violence there last year, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Nearly 70,000 of those displaced are in low-lying areas along the coast that are highly susceptible to tidal surges and flooding and should be moved to higher ground, said Ashok Nigam, the United Nations’ resident and humanitarian coordinator.
“We’re very concerned,” Nigam said. “We need to be prepared for the worst.”
Myanmar’s southern delta was devastated in 2008 Cyclone Nargis, an intense storm that swept away entire farming villages and killed more than 130,000 people.
Kelland Stevenson, country director for the international charity Save the Children, said aid agencies in Myanmar held an emergency meeting Saturday to check stocks of food and shelter and draw up contingency plans.
“The information we’re getting now is that the storm is tracking away from Rakhine state, but it can change course at any minute,” Stevenson said.
And either way, “there will be rain,” he said. “It is likely to bring a significant amount of water.”
Aid groups have issued warnings for weeks over the plight of the displaced amid fears that annual monsoon rains could wreak havoc in their camps and spark outbreaks of cholera or other diseases. But discussions over where to move the Rohingya have been complicated by widespread anti-Muslim sentiment.
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