Cyclone Mocha made landfall on 14 May 2023 in Cox’s Bazar district along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, causing heavy rainfall, strong winds, and landslides.
Tens of thousands of families have been affected and homes and key facilities have been destroyed, especially in the Rohingya camps in Teknaf and Ukhiya. To understand the ground reality and impact of the MOCHA cyclone, Alliance2015 members deployed teams in its own working areas on 15 May 2023, to have an understanding regarding damage and loss around Teknaf and Ukhiya and associated camps.
- 429,337 Bangladeshi were affected in four districts; Cox’sBazar, Noakhali, Chattogram, Feni.
- 21,148 Rohingyas in the refugee camps were affected in Teknaf and Ukhiya Upazila, Cox’sBazar.
“It was strong wind that destroyed our house. We took shelter in the mosque nearby our house. My house completely destroyed for the cyclone. I have lost my four hens and a goat. I have no more households assets. Now, I am trying to fix my house with the broken pieces.” Shamsunnahar, Sabrang union, Teknaf upazila, Cox’sBazar
“I felt insecure as my house was on the corner of a hill. It was difficult to move with my ten family members. I felt depressed to see my house was destroyed by the cyclone. My house and my vegetable garden both were destroyed.
We could eat vegetables from our garden, but cyclone destroyed all the vegetables that we cultivated. I am trying to repair my shelter again as there is high risk of being damaged further from landslides.” Foyez Ahmed, Rohingya refugee, camp-13, ukhiya upazila, Cox’sBazar
Alliance2015’s preparation and response
Alliance2015 members present in Bangladesh are: ACTED, Concern Worldwide, Helvetas and Welthungerhilfe.
Based on their assessment, Alliance2015 partners decided to provide complementary emergency relief to individual areas of work, using available funding from ongoing programs and internal funds.
For the host communities, this includes shelter support, long-term livelihood activities, capacity building, and awareness raising on disaster preparedness.
For camps, this translates into food assistance, shelter support, restorations of crops and kitchen gardens, reparation of WASH infrastructure, and rebuilding damaged integrated nutrition facilities, among others.
