By DPA
Dhaka : A powerful cyclone buffeted the southern Bangladesh coast Thursday after its peripheral winds touched off high waves and floods on the country’s islands, officials said.
Nearly a million people living in coastal villages were moved to safe locations as forecasters expected the storm to batter the coast with winds of more than 200 km per hour.
Disaster management officials said over 50,000 Red Cross volunteers and members of civil defence groups were put on alert ahead of the cyclone’s landfall.
A red alert was sounded as the country’s interim government closed airports, seaports and ferry stations.
Rescuers evacuated people from islands to cyclone shelters to protect them from tidal flooding in the Bay of Bengal, and aid workers using megaphones warned people in fishing hamlets about the upcoming storm.
The main seaport of Chittagong declared a danger signal number 10, its highest emergency warning.
Weather officials said the cyclone would bring heavy rains and gale winds of between 180-200 km per hour, causing floods in low-lying areas, damage to old buildings and disruption in rail and road traffic.