Maungdaw, Arakan State — A tropical cyclone that hit Arakan coastal areas yesterday has been getting powerful with every passing hour, causing devastative floods and damaging homes. 

The storm has been sustaining with gust over at a speed of 100 Kilometers per hour and getting stronger since it blew in yesterday. It has damaged homes; been blowing away the roofs of the homes; causing floods submerging homes and structures; and knocking out electricity power plants and trees and more.

It has hit the townships such as Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Punna Gyun, Minbya, Mrauk-U (Patthar Killa), Pauktaw,  Kyaukphyu and Sittwe (Akyab). Literally it is blowing all over Arakan coastal areas.

The shelters of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) at the camps in Sittwe and Pauktaw and in other places have been being submerged in the rising floods, blown over or destroyed. They are hardly receiving aids or shelters from the government rescue teams.

[Some strong winds and heavy rains began to cause floods in some of the above-mentioned townships of Arakan state earlier.]

The cyclone named ‘Komen’ has not only hit Myanmar’s coastal areas including Arakan but also hit the south-eastern coastal areas of Bangladesh.

The aftermaths of the storm may prove too destructive for the violence-hit Rohingyas who are already in a dire situation since the state-sponsored violence began in June 2012.

Update: Three people have been reported to have been missing in ‘Alay Than Kyaw- Kayin Tan’ village (Haisshurata Gojjondia) in southern Maungdaw, one has reportedly died.

Reports say that three Students and one teacher were severely injured after getting stuck in the school structure destroyed by the storm at ‘Thayet Oak (Maangala)’ village in northern Maungdaw. One of the three injured students later died in the Maungdaw General Hospital.