Powerful storm kills at least three people and damages homes, electricity infrastructure and mobile phone masts
Thousands of people have been evacuated to monasteries, pagodas and schools in Myanmar, seeking shelter from a powerful storm that tore the roofs off buildings and killed at least three people.
Cyclone Mocha made landfall near Sittwe township in Rakhine state on Sunday with wind speeds of up to 130 mph (209 km/h), the country’s meteorological department said.
Myanmar’s military information office said the storm had damaged homes, electricity infrastructure, mobile phone masts, boats and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said the storm also tore roofs off of sports facilities on the Coco Islands, about 260 miles south-west of the country’s largest city, Yangon.
Rakhine-based media reported that streets and the basements of houses in Sittwe’s low-lying areas had been flooded.
