Cyclone Sidr smashes Bangladesh's coastline, millions evacuated

November 15, 2007

Millions of people were evacuated over the previous 48 hours as Category 5, Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Sidr prepared to smash into Bangladesh's shoreline with top winds reaching 240 k/h (149 miles per hour). A senior official for the Bengali government, Ali Imam Majumder, said that they expected to evacuate around 3.2 million people in all, adding, "We have taken all precautions." Shahjahan Alam, an official with Bangladesh's Meteorological Department, said the cyclone's eye is expected to hit 85 miles southwest of capital city Dhaka later on Thursday.

Evacuation
There is a great concern that many of the badly needed cyclone shelters are not in adequate condition to stand the cyclones heavy winds.

In spite of those concerns, however, the casualty rate is expected to be minimal because of the efforts, nothing like the tragic 1991 cyclone which caused an estimated 138,000 deaths and displacing another 10 million.