Bangladesh: Cyclone - May 1998

Cyclone Storm 01B swept across the Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts on 20 May 1998 with a reported maximum speed of 150 kph, razing houses and uprooting trees and electric poles in its path. In Moheshkhali, the coastal embankment was damaged by the tidal surge. Reports from Government authorities, NGOs and the units of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme indicate that the general damage is not as extensive as originally expected since the cyclone struck at low tide and. and the wind speed was not as high as predicted. By midday Thursday (21 May), the BDRCS/CPP volunteers and the CPP zonal staff in the affected areas had collected the following statistics on the effects of the disaster: 11 thanas affected in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts; 4 persons killed; 504 persons injured; 15 persons missing; 3,178 houses destroyed and another 9,945 houses damaged; 108,440 people (13,841 families) affected, or approximately 3 percent of the total population of the affected thanas; 40 educational institutions damaged; and 3,310 hectares of crop damaged. (IFRC, 25 May 1998)