Myanmar's victims of sectarian strife were spared the full force of Cyclone Mahasen, but many are now returning to flimsy tents in flood-prone camps with the rainy season just weeks away.

As cyclone Mahasen headed towards Burma, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, local authorities and aid agencies such as World Vision helped to minimise the dangers for people in vulnerable, low-lying areas. The Rohinga Muslim community, many living in camps in Burma's Rakhine state, were particularly at risk. Aid workers helped to evacuate 1 million people to shelters during the storm, which weakened without causing major devastation

DHAKA, 16 May 2013 (IRIN) - Some 50,000 volunteers in coastal communities across southern Bangladesh are out and about warning people to move to higher ground ahead of Cyclone Mahasen. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated so far.

"We've been working here for the last couple of days," Joydev Dutt, a Red Crescent volunteer from Barguna District, told IRIN. He has spent hours riding around on his bicycle in heavy rain with a megaphone hurled over his shoulder. "People are responding to our warning. Almost all people in this cyclone-prone area have been evacuated."

As the people and Government of Myanmar brace themselves for Cyclone Mahasen, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, Mr. Ashok Nigam, has called for the prompt relocation of everyone who will be affected.

Read the full report.

The New Light of Myanmar, Tuesday, 16 May, 2013

(extract)

Meiktila, 15 May— Daw Yi, Daw San San Win, Daw Po and Daw Htay Htay Yi of Mandalay donated relief aids worth K 2.5 million, and U Kyaw Soe of Mandalay, foods worth K 0.2 million and Shan State (South) Muslims Group, relief aids worth K 5 million for victims in Meiktila conflicts at Township’s transit centre on 12 May.

A total of K 199,575,000 in cash and relief aids worth K 644,309,740 have been received as donations for victims of the conflict.

Myanma Alinn

HIGHLIGHTS

• Tropical Cyclone Mahasen is due to make landfall in Bangladesh, near the Burma border, on May 16 with winds of up to 63 miles per hour

• The storm has already caused 7 deaths and displaced 115,000 people in Sri Lanka as it tracked near the country

• Humanitarian preparedness activities are underway in Bangladesh and Burma, including pre-positioning of relief supplies and evacuation of populations residing in areas at high risk of severe storm impact

DHAKA/YANGON (May 15, 2013) — As Tropical Cyclone Mahasen moves across the Bay of Bengal towards Bangladesh and Myanmar, the humanitarian organization CARE is preparing to provide emergency assistance to affected communities in both countries. The storm is expected to deliver heavy rain and damaging winds when it makes its projected landfall Thursday evening or Friday morning near the border of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Britain has pledged emergency food, drinking water and shelter to help people displaced in Rakhine State in western Burma.

Minister for International Development Alan Duncan and Foreign Office Minister for South East Asia Hugo Swire today announced a £4.4 million package of humanitarian support for people displaced by violence and facing the additional threats of the rainy season and approaching storms.

Britain’s package of emergency assistance will provide:

As Tropical Cyclone Mahasen travels north-east through the Bay of Bengal, humanitarian agency World Vision is prepared to mount a relief response across vulnerable areas in Bangladesh, Myanmar, India and Sri Lanka. The cyclone’s current path anticipates landfall in Bangladesh this Friday.

The highest impact, tidal surge and rainfall predictions are predicted to hit Chittagong and Cox Bazaar areas in Bangladesh but could also threaten at least 8.2 million people, many of them children, living along the coastlines of northeast India. Myanmar and Sri Lanka.