www.solidarites.org

MOCHA cyclone alert in Bangladesh and Myanmar

Published on Monday 15 May 2023

[Paris, May 14, 2023] The NGO members of Alliance Urgences are in place and ready to respond to the emergency to help the populations that have been affected.  

A few hours ago, the devastating cyclone MOCHA reached the coasts of Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal.  

Of category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, it is accompanied by winds of up to 259 km/h according to the U.S. Typhoon Warning Center. It is expected to cause a tidal wave of up to four meters, generating heavy rains and landslides. 

Concerns are high in the Cox’s Bazar region of southeastern Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are already living in precarious conditions, as well as in Myanmar’s Rakhine province, where more than 200,000 people are displaced. 

The impact on these already affected populations could be extremely important: flooding and risk of drowning, injuries from projections or collapses, infectious risks, etc. 

The NGO members of Alliance Urgences, Action contre la Faim, Handicap International and Solidarités International, already there were mobilized very early to prepare for the passage of the cyclone and participate in humanitarian support in the field (sheltering people and means of subsistence, pre-positioning staff and stocks of necessities, etc.). 

As soon as the cyclone hits, they will carry out a rapid needs assessment in the affected areas to adapt their intervention, which should include:  

  • Primary health care, mental health care, psychological support and emergency rehabilitation care. 
  • Transport and distribution of safe drinking water, construction of temporary water distribution points, and construction of emergency latrines. 
  • Distribution of hygiene kits, dignity kits, necessities. 
  • Clearing and cleaning of debris and damage caused by the cyclone. 
  • Humanitarian logistics (storage and transportation for aid workers). 

Press contact:  

Spokespersons on site or in France are available for interviews. 

Contacts: medias@allianceurgences.org 

Margaux Lesage: 06 09 17 35 59 / Charlotte Nouette-Delorme: 07 85 42 56 99.  

Notes to editors:  

Alliance Urgences is an association of 6 major humanitarian NGOs in the field: Action Contre la Faim, CARE France, Handicap International, Médecins du Monde, Plan International France, and Solidarités International. Its mandate is to facilitate national solidarity in the context of large-scale emergencies by launching joint appeals for donations. Its mission: to significantly strengthen the coordination, speed, and impact of the humanitarian response of its member NGOs to meet the needs of the people they are helping.