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Bangladesh put on cyclone alert Bangladesh braces as cyclone hits
(about 4 hours later)
Tens of thousands of people have left coastal districts of Bangladesh as a severe cyclone heads in across the Bay of Bengal, officials say. A powerful tropical storm which has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes has hit Bangladesh's coast.
Operations have been suspended at the main ports of Mongla and Chittagong, and people are being moved away from high-risk areas. The cyclone made landfall in the south-west, packing winds of up to 240kph (150mph), the country's chief meteorologist said.
Coastal residents in low-lying Bangladesh have been warned of possible tidal surges at least 3m high.
More than 40,000 policemen, soldiers, coastguards and health workers have been deployed along the coast.More than 40,000 policemen, soldiers, coastguards and health workers have been deployed along the coast.
The cyclone was expected to make landfall on Thursday evening. The cyclone may also affect eastern India and the west coast of Burma.
With winds of 200km (120 miles) an hour, the cyclone may also affect eastern India and the west coast of Burma. 'Branches flying'
Thousands of families have been evacuated from their homes in over a dozen coastal districts of Bangladesh, officials said. Tropical Cyclone Sidr came ashore in an area of mangrove forests known as the Sundarbans.
'Serious' We have been using loudspeaker announcements to people who live there and we've advised them to take shelter in tall buildings Mortaza Hossain Minister for disaster management class="" href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/7096561.stm">Can Bangladesh cope?
The BBC's Alastair Lawson on board a boat chartered by the BBC to assess the impact of climate change says that the weather is now taking a marked turn for the worse. "From my window, I can see tins ripped off the roofs and tree branches flying under the sky covered with thick clouds," Moulvi Feroze Ahmed, a local government official on St Martin's island in the Bay of Bengal, told Reuters news agency.
Our correspondent - located on the Jamuna river north-west of Dhaka - says that the weather is overcast and the wind has picked up significantly. "It looks like the sea is coming to grab us," he said.
Officials say that the level of casualties from cyclones in Bangladesh has been significantly reduced in recent years because of a better early-warning system and the construction of cyclone shelters. "The cyclone has battered Bangladeshi coastal areas," Samarendra Karmakar - director of Bangladesh's meteorological department - told AFP news agency.
The centre of the cyclone was near Khulna and Barisal not far from the border with India, he said.
"The velocity of the wind in that area is 220-240kph. [This] is a violent storm."
Casualties reduced
But Mr Karmakar added that most of the five million people living in the area should already have been evacuated or have taken cover in cyclone shelters or government buildings.
Operations have been suspended at the main ports of Mongla and Chittagong.
Animated guide: HurricanesAnimated guide: Hurricanes
Bangladesh's southern seaside resort town of Cox's Bazar appeared to be deserted after the cyclone warning was issued on Wednesday evening, reports said. The southern seaside resort town of Cox's Bazar appeared to be deserted after the cyclone warning was issued on Wednesday evening, reports said.
Bangladesh meteorological department officials said they feared the cyclone may also trigger tidal surges up to 10ft (over three metres) in some areas. Southern Bangladesh is often hit by cyclones, but experts say the latest one is a category four storm, the most powerful so far in the season.
Southern Bangladesh is often hit by cyclones, but experts say the latest one is a category four storm, the largest so far in the season. Bangladesh developed a network of cyclone shelters and a storm early warning system, after a cyclone killed more than 500,000 people in 1970.
"This is going to be a highly damaging cyclone," Samarendra Karmakar, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department told the BBC. Casualties from cyclones has been significantly reduced as a result, officials say.
Bangladesh is frequently hit by cyclones and monsoon floods.
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