All water transport services and road transports on some vulnerable routes and all sorts of flights of Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport remains suspended as severe cyclonic storm Bulbul is crossing country’s southeast coast on Saturday night.
The air transport authority decided to suspend all sorts of operation of Shah Amanat International Airport for next 14 hours starting from Saturday 4.00pm till 6.00am of Sunday early morning.
Flight operations of Cox’s Bazaar and Barishal airport also remain suspended due to the storm. The airport’s manager Wing Commander Sarwar E Alam said, “As the severe cyclonic storm Bulbul is approaching the coastal areas of country we took the decision to avoid possible damages”.
Our Chattogram Correspondent said, 10 domestic and international flights have been cancelled so far. Sensitive machinery, devices and equipment have been safely relocated to avoid possible damage in the cyclone.
However, scheduled activities of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport will remain as usual until further announcement. But some domestic flights to Cox’s Bazaar, Barishal and Chittagong have been cancelled. On the other hand, Launch and Ferry services of southern coastal parts have been cancelled due to the cyclone. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has suspended launch services on all routes.
Considering the safety and security of the people, BIWTA issued a notice signed by joint director of Dhaka River Port Authority AKM Arif Uddin in this regard on Friday night. Ferry services to Khathalbari-Shimulia routes also remain suspended.
On the other hand, as the meteorologist department asked to hoist great danger signal number 9, the Chattogram Port Authority suspended all activities of the port since Saturday morning.
Capt. Faridul Alam, Chief Harbor master of the port told Bangladesh Post that, “the main goal of all preparations is to resume the port operation as soon as the cyclone leaves our land.”
To minimize the losses of the cyclone, Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Elias Hossain said, “the army and navy remain prepared according to the existing plan to address the damage of cyclone. Several Navy warships and helicopters of Air Force are also ready for rescue operations after the cyclone.”
Mongla Port Authority has also suspended the port activities as great danger signal number 10 is hoisted in Bagerhat. At least 15 local and foreign vessels have been shifted to safety zone. Besides, all factories of Mongla Economic Zone will remain closed until Sunday. Normal activity will start from Monday.
Director General of Mongla EPZ Mahbub Ahmed have confirmed this to media.According to our district correspondents, vehicular movement on intra-district routes in southern part of the country has been suspended as the cyclone is approaching nearer. In a special weather bulletin, the Met Office said ‘Bulbul’ intensified further and lies over Northwest Bay and adjoining west-central Bay at 3am.
It is likely to intensify further and hit Bangladesh’s coastal regions by this evening, the Met Office said. Under the influence of the very severe cyclone storm and the moon phase, low-lying coastal areas are likely to be inundated by storm surge of 5-7 feet height above normal astronomical tide.
