In this image from a video, local people walk on a flooded street caused by heavy rain as Cyclone Mocha approaches in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar Sunday, May 14, 2023. Bangladesh and Myanmar braced Sunday as the extremely severe cyclone started to hit coastal areas and authorities urged thousands of people in both countries to seek shelter. - AP
YANGON, May 14 (Xinhua): A town in central Myanmar experienced its heaviest single-day rainfall in 58 years on Saturday, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
The Nyaung-U town in central Myanmar's Mandalay Region logged its heaviest rainfalls in 58 years, with 161 mm recorded on Saturday, compared to the figure of 121 mm in May 2018, the weather bureau said.
It's now raining in nearly all parts of the country due to Cyclone Mocha, and rains or thundershowers will also continue in most parts of the country until Sunday afternoon, according to the weather bureau.
Cyclone Mocha, which is heading towards the Bangladesh-Myanmar coasts, is predicted to make landfall on Sunday, with a speed of up to 120 mph and a storm surge of up to 14 feet (about 4.26 meters) in western Myanmar's Rakhine State, the weather bureau said on Saturday afternoon.
In another development, Myanmar has raised its cyclone alert to its highest level for seven townships in the western state of Rakhine as cyclone Mocha is nearer, local authorities said.
Cyclone Mocha is forecast to hit the townships in Rakhine state on Sunday at a speed of up to 110 mph and a storm surge of up to 16 feet (about 1.83 meters), the country's weather bureau said.
Cyclone Mocha, which is the first to form in the Bay of Bengal this year, is forecast to be the strongest to hit Myanmar in more than a decade, forecasters said.
"People from villages along rivers and creeks were already asked to move to the nearest cyclone shelters or safe places," U Hla Thein, spokesperson for Rakhine state government, told Xinhua.
Myanmar's weather bureau also urged people in hilly areas to be aware of heavy rain and landslides and people in coastal areas to be aware of storm surge.- Xinhua
