Met Office says cyclone ‘Roanu’ likely to intensify and move further north

Cyclone 'Roanu' over the West Central and South East Bay is heading north towards Bangladesh and could further intensify, the Met Office has warned.

It said in its post-midnight bulletin that gusty winds clocking up to 88kmph could sweep through a radius of 55km.

The late night report said that the first cyclone of the monsoon had moved slightly north-north-eastward and was currently located near 16 degrees north and 81.90 degrees east.

All ports have been asked to keep the warning signal number four hoisted.

It has slightly closed in on all major ports since the last bulletin and, as of Thursday midnight, was situated at “about 1295 kms southwest of Chittagong port, 1270 kms southwest of Cox’s Bazar port, 1115 kms southwest of Mongla port and 1145 kms southwest of Payra port”, the bulletin said.

The warning means that the ports are threatened by a storm with a wind speed of 40 to 50 kmph, but it doesn’t appear that the danger is sufficiently great as yet to justify extreme precaution.

Fishermen have been advised to stay close to shores and have been advised against venturing afar into the sea until further notice.