By IANS,
Dhaka : Moving slowly across the Bay of Bengal, cyclone Nargis has gathered strength, intensifying into a “severe cyclonic storm” that may hit the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast, media reports said Wednesday.
A meteorological officer special bulletin issued here Tuesday said Nargis was lying over west central Bay and adjoining southwest Bay, 1,155 km from Chittagong coast, 1,090 km from Cox’s Bazar and 1,030 km from Mongla coast. It had a minimum sustained wind speed of between 90 kmph and 120 kmph within the 54 km radius of its centre.
The first cyclonic storm since the deadly Sidr hit Bangladesh last November, Nargis is likely to intensify further.
“It is too early to comment about when and where the storm will hit. At this stage, a cyclonic storm frequently changes its course. But probably it is going to hit the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast,” Arzumand Habib, director of the Dhaka Meteorological Office, was quoted as saying by the New Age newspaper.
The weather office warned that the sea will be rough over the north Bay and advised all fishing boats and trawlers to stay close to the coast.
Super-cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh coast Nov 15, 2007, killing over 3,000 people and destroying about a million hectares of cultivable land.
Despite international help and import of 500,000 tonnes of rice from India, Bangladesh is still battling food shortage caused by Sidr.