Bangladesh has issued a warning to its maritime ports as a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal heads toward its south-western coast, meteorologists said yesterday.
The cyclone, Amphan, with wind speed of 89 to 117km per hour within 64km of its centre was located 1,230km away from southern Payra port by yesterday afternoon, meteorologist Aftab Uddin said.
The storm is likely to intensify further and move towards the coast, he said.
Maritime ports were asked to remain alert.
Fishing boats in the bay were advised not to venture into the deep waters, according to a special bulletin of the meteorological department.
Cyclonic storms are very common in the Bay of Bengal.
They often cross the coastline of Bangladesh and India.
A powerful cyclone devastated the south-eastern parts of Bangladesh on April 29, 1991, killing more than 100,000 people and making millions
homeless.
Cyclone Sidr, with wind speed up to 240km/h lashed the south-west coast of Bangladesh on November 15, 2007, leaving 3,500 people killed.
Migrant people travel back to their home places on a ferry ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival which marks the end of Ramadan, during a government-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, in Munshiganj on the outskirts of Dhaka yesterday.
