OUR cyclone The mocha, the worst blow to the region in a decade, is expected to hit the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh at noon this afternoon, where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

Hurricane Mocha has been upgraded to Category 5 — the highest — on the Saffir-Simpson scale, accompanied by winds that can reach 259 kilometers per hour, according to the U.S. Hurricane Warning Center, which updated its forecasts today.

A powerful cyclone threatens makeshift camps housing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh.

For its part, the Indian Meteorological Service estimates that the cyclone will weaken slightly before reaching the area between Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, home to refugee camps, and Sittwe, a city of 150,000 people in Myanmar, this morning.

“The wind is picking up right now,” said Kyaw Kyaw Haing, a rescue worker from Pauk Tau, where about 3,000 people took refuge in inland areas after fleeing their homes in Sittwe, on Myanmar’s west coast. .

“major emergency”