About 1.4 million people in the coastal areas of Bangladesh have taken refuge in storm shelters as of Wednesday as cyclone Amphan moves further close to the coast.
Authorities are continuing to shift the local people to the shelters, said Kazi Tasmin Ara Ajmiri, deputy secretary of National Disaster Response Coordination Centre.
Some people who came to the centres on Tuesday left for home as the storm did not hit the coast yet; they are being brought back to the shelters, she said.
“There are 1,364,000 people in the shelters as of 9 am Wednesday,” said the deputy secretary.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department elevated the storm alert to great danger signal 9 for Chattogram and Cox's Bazar ports as the cyclone was just 345 km from the country’s coastline.
Mongla and Payra ports have been asked to keep hoisted great danger signal No. 10, reports bdnews24.com.
The storm is expected to cut its path through the Bangladesh-West Bengal coast near the Sundarbans by Wednesday evening, according to the Met Office.
