Cyclone Roanu makes landfall at Chittagong coast

Cyclonic storm Roanu has made a landfall and crossed the Chittagong coast of Bangladesh with a wind speed of 62 km per hour, says the Met office.

“The cyclone has made landfall after crossing the Chittagong coast. It approached the land over the coast at Sandip, Hatia , Kutubdia, Sitakundu and Feni,” Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s Director Shamsuddinh Ahmed  told bdnews24.com at 1:30pm on Saturday.

Gusty winds and rains have been reported from the coastal area as the cyclone hit Bangladesh.

Coastal areas have been inundated by storm surge of 3 to 4 feet height above normal tide.

The Met office director said that the cyclonic storm will weaken as it makes the landfall causing heavy rains in the coastal area.

Danger signal number seven for the seaports of Chittagong, Mangla and Payra as well for the coastal districts Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Bhola, Borguna, Patuakhali, Barisal, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Bagherhat, Khulna, Satkhira.

Danger signal number six for the seaport in the beach town of Cox’s Bazar.

At least five people have died and over 50 injured in coastal Bangladesh as strong winds have left hundreds of houses damaged and trees uprooted.

Two deaths have been reported each from Bhola and Chittagong while another from Patuakhali.

In Patuakhali, over 300 families stand waterlogged as strong tidal waves caused a breach on a dam at Rangabali. Road communications have been disrupted after strong winds uprooted trees blocking highways.

Authorities have already evacuated around 500, 000 people from the 14 coastal district.

The weather office forecasted heavy rains in parts of Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Sylhet and Dhaka divisions in the next 48 hours.

It also said that the rains might cause landslides in the hilly regions of Chittagong.