a million residents flee powerful cyclone Remal, which made landfall

The powerful cyclone Remal reached the coasts of Bangladesh on Sunday May 26, causing at least a million people to flee to seek refuge inland. “We have so far recorded maximum wind speeds of 90 km/h, but they could accelerate”, Azizur Rahman, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told AFP. According to forecasts, gusts could reach 130 km/h.

Heavy rains and strong winds will also affect neighboring India, where coastal areas have also been evacuated. Most of Bangladesh’s coastal areas are one or two meters above sea level. Bangladeshi authorities have raised the cyclone alert level to its maximum, warning fishermen not to go to sea and triggering an evacuation order for those in vulnerable areas.

Cyclones have killed hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh in recent decades, and the number hitting its low-lying, densely populated coastline has risen sharply, from one to three a year, due to climate change.