Shamsul Alam, a Rohingya community leader, told Reuters news agency damage in different camps was severe with nearly all the 10,000 thatched huts in the Balukhali and Kutupalong camps destroyed. As per Skymet Weather, Cyclone Mora had hit the coast between the Cox's Bazar and the port of Chittagong early at around 7.00 am today.
All flights to and from Chittagong worldwide airport and Cox's Bazar airport were suspended.
Cox's Bazar district administration said some 538 shelters were ready to accommodate more than 500,000 people.
This is published unedited from the IANS feed.
Dozens of villages in the districts have reportedly been flooded and many susceptible houses have been damaged fully or partially.
It comes after heavy rains in Sri Lanka caused landslides that killed at least 180 people.
Yesterday, Bangladesh Meteorological Department had said the severe cyclonic storm "Mora" moved northward over North Bay and started crossing Cox's Bazar- Chittagong coast at 6:00 AM (local time).
The government ensured adequate supply of food for those were moved to 400 cyclone centers, Disaster management official Golam Mostafa said.
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All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay and deep sea have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice.
Cyclone Mora is packing winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour (60 mph) and has prompted authorities to raise the weather warning to its highest level.
Some low-lying areas around the main port city of Chittagong - home to millions of people - were inundated by storm surges, authorities said.
The district is home to 300,000 Rohingya refugees, most of whom live in flimsy makeshift camps after fleeing persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.
"Now we're in the open air", said Omar Farukh, a community leader in Kutupalong camp.
Hasina has said her government would rebuild all property damaged by the storm and has sent two Bangladesh Navy ships to two of the worst-hit areas.
The Global Alert and Disaster Coordination System warned that powerful winds would affect large parts of the east of Bangladesh, possibly affecting 11.4 million people. Last year, at least 24 people were killed after Cyclone Roanu hit coastal Bangladesh.
The IMD website said: "Rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and isolated extremely heavy rainfall very likely over Assam & Meghalaya".
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