At least five people have been reported dead as strong winds and heavy rain triggered by Cyclone Roanu continued to lash Bangladesh on Saturday. A mother and her child died after a landslide caused by rain buried their home in Chittagong’s Sitakundu village, police inspector Shah Alam told AFP. Tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes in search of shelter from the storm.
Thousands of homes have been evacuated, and 60,000 people were moved to cyclone shelters following warnings of flooding in villages along the coast. Cyclone Roanu made landfall between the districts of Barisal and Chittagong on the Bangladeshi coast around noon, with winds hitting speeds of 88 km per hour, according to officials of the country’s meteorological department said, AFP reported. Hundreds of mud-and-tin houses were damaged in the two southern districts, police said.
Landslides warnings have been issued in all south-eastern hill districts, and fishing trawlers have been advised not to venture out into the sea. Disaster authorities said they are prepared to move more than two million people to nearly 4,000 cyclone shelters in South Bangladesh. They have shut down sea and river ports.
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