Bangladesh armed forces ready to tackle aftermath of super cyclone Amphan

The Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force have made preparations to tackle the havoc feared to be brought by super cyclone Amphan.

The Armed Forces Division is communicating with the Disaster Management Monitoring Cell of the Prime Minister’s Office, disaster management and relief ministry, Department of Disaster Management and other related ministries and agencies, the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate or ISPR said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Division is ready to respond to all sorts of emergency, the ISPR said. 

The Army had earlier coordinated efforts before and after natural disasters with the civil administrations.

This time, it has prepared 18,400 packets of relief materials and formed 71 medical teams.

As many as 145 disaster management teams with special equipment are also ready to be deployed at short notice, the ISPR said.

Another team of experts with experience in tackling landslide was ready to be deployed at Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar to save the forcefully displaced nationals of Myanmar, it added.

The Army Aviation Group would join rescue and relief operations.

Speedboats, water treatment plants, outboard motors, rescue boats, and landing craft utilities and vehicles were also at the ready.

Two Navy ships have left for evacuation of people from remote shoals in Satkhira, the ISPR said.

The Navy deployed a total of 25 ships as part of three-tier efforts to conduct emergency rescue, relief and medical operations in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Two maritime patrol aircraft and two helicopters were also on standby to conduct search operations over the Bay of Bengal and in the coastal districts.

Navy contingents and special medical teams will be deployed in the areas that will have been affected by the storm.

It has also relocated the Rohingya refugees, who had recently been taken to Bhasan Char island, to storm shelters.

The Air Force will assess the damage along with medical, relief and rescue efforts by using six transport aircraft and 22 helicopters.