Bangladesh prepares for a weakened Fani

Eight people have been reportedly killed during the cyclonic storm’s approach

At least eight people were reported to have been killed during cyclone Fani’s approach towards Bangladesh, with projections estimating that the storm is likely to hit the country sometime in the morning today.
The tropical cyclonic storm struck India with the full force of 170-200km per hour, and gradually weakened to 100-120km per hour as it neared Bangladesh.
Shamsuddin Ahmed, director of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said on Friday that Fani could have rivaled Sidr in strength, according to initial projections.
Among the deceased in Bangladesh, six people were killed in Kishoreganj from lightning strikes. Among them, Suman Mia, 7, and Mohiuddin, 22, is from the Mithamain upazila while Asad Mia, 45, is from the Pakundia upazila and Rubel Das, 26 from the Itna upazila, Nur Nahar, 32, and Mojibur Rahman, 35, from the Char Algi village.
In Netrakona, a 35-year-old farmer named Abduk Barek was struck by lightning when he went to a haor in the Madan upazila to harvest crops.
In Bagerhat, a gust of wind caused a tree branch to crash on a 50-year-old woman named Shaharun Begum, killing her when she was working near her home in Ranjitpur in the district.
Massive preparations
District and upazila administrations in the coastal belt began evacuating people to safety, and many took shelter at cyclone shelters, schools and colleges before Fani made landfall.
To minimize the losses and damage that might be caused by the cyclone, the administration began moving people from the Sundarbans and adjoining areas to cyclone shelters on Friday morning.
A 100-metre stretch of coastal embankment collapsed into the Meghna River after tides swelled due to the approach of cyclone Fani in Kamalnagar, Lakshmipur on Friday afternoon Focus Bangla
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked all organizations, government and non-government, to coordinate their efforts to mitigate the impact of Fani in a statement from London, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Enamur Rahman has said 1,240,795 people from the coastal regions have been evacuated and taken to cyclone shelters as of 7pm on Friday.
The 4,071 centres in 19 districts at risk have been prepared to accommodate 2,200,000-2,500,000 people.
The Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force have emergency relief and recovery teams on stand-by to help with relief efforts.
Low-lying areas inundated
Vast tracts of low-lying areas in several coastal districts were flooded due to the storm surges.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department, in its special bulletin on Friday afternoon, said low-lying areas in Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barisal, Pirojpur, Jhalokathi, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira and their islands and chars were likely to be inundated by storm surges of four or five feet height above normal astronomical tide because of Fani.
Twenty villages in Patuakhali were flooded by the cyclone’s impact. Houses and croplands in villages of Kalapara and Mirzaganj upazilas were submerged under water, as the increased water level of the rivers and the sea forced the dams at several points to break on Friday afternoon.
In Bagerhat, a 200-metre-wide embankment collapsed on Friday noon, flooding at least 200 houses and wide swathes of farmland. The affected people have taken refuge in nearby storm shelters.
In Barguna, many low-lying areas including the Barguna sadar, Betagi, Bamna and Patharghata were inundated due to the storm surge.
In Satkhira, water level rose at different rivers adjoining to Sunderbans while people were rushing to shelter centres because of the campaigning made by authorities.
Due to the looming threat of floods, Gopalganj farmers are worried as their Boro crops are not ready for harvest.
Although the government suggested the farmers to harvest early, farmers were reluctant out of the massive losses they would suffer.
In Chandpur, many people took shelter as district administration kept 311 shelter centres and 1,445 different schools ready as preparations.
In Lakshmipur, district administration took massive preparations including preparing 293 shelter centres and a large number of volunteers to minimize casualties.
Ferry services suspended, flights cancelled
Ferry service between Paturia and Daulatdia was suspended around 3pm on Friday.
All fishing boats and trawlers over the North Bay and the deep sea have been advised to proceed with caution till further notice.
On the other hand, Biman Bangladesh Airlines has cancelled Dhaka-Jessore-Dhaka domestic flights because of the storm. In addition, Dhaka-Kolkata flight BG-095 has been delayed until 8:30am this morning.

Our districts correspondents Mushfiqur Rahman, Kishoreganj; SM Shamsur Rahman, Bagerhat; Rajib Bose, Patuakhali; Sumon Shikdar, Barguna; Asaduzzaman, Satkhira; Hanif Ullah Akash, Netrakona; Manoj Kumar Saha, Gopalganj; Ibrahim Rony, Chandpur; and Saiful Islam Swapan, Lakshmipur contributed to this report