APCEDI ALERT Bay of Bengal (BOB-02B), Cyclone Mala, #4, 2006: Cyclone Mala comes onshore on Arakan Coast near Resort Town of Gwa

The India Department of Meteorology and the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre are continuing to provide guidance and tracking information on Cyclone Mala in the Bay of Bengal.

Cyclone Mala has come onshore on the Arakan Coast near the resort town of Gwa as a borderline Category 3/4 Cyclone on the Saffir Simpson Scale . Damage has been reported across the southern part of Rakhine (Rohinga) State and neighbouring Irriwady State. Flooding is also reported in Yangoon, Myanmar's capital. The Cyclone is currently situated over the Lower Irriwady Basin which is experiencing very heavy rains.

Models now show the Cyclone raining out over Myanmar and Thailand with heavy rain expected to continue over much of South-Central Burma, Lower Irriwady Basin and into Northern Thailand.

The Government of Thailand has issued a storm alert for the North and the Central Plains for a major rain event. Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Tak, Uthai Thani and Kanchanaburi should be prepared for heavy downpours.

The Hindu Newspaper has the only definitive news article on damage at the moment.

Cyclone batters Myanmar's west coast, damaging buildings
Yangon, April 29 (AP): A cyclone packing winds up to 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour) battered Myanmar's west coast on Saturday, causing some damage at beach resorts but resulting in no injuries, officials said.

Cyclone Mala passed through Gwa, a resort 190 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Yangon, an official from the meteorological department said.

The cyclone produced massive waves and flooding, knocked down trees and forces some visitors to evacuate to higher ground, the official, who spoke on condition anonymity, said.

The storm on Friday damaged several houses on nearby Haingyi island and forced South Korea's Daewoo International Corp. to abandon oil platforms in northern Rakhine state, a Daewoo employee said.

``Several houses were destroyed and many houses lost their roofs in the storm, which hit Haingyi island with a wind speed of more than 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour,'' said a senior meteorological department officer, who also requested anonymity as is customary among Myanmar officials.

Haingyi island is 200 kilometers (125 miles) southwest of Yangon, at the tip of the southern delta region.

There were also storm warnings out for coastal areas in southern Bangladesh, where authorities expected it to hit late Saturday.

Weather officials in Myanmar said that the storm was expected to intensify in the delta and western Rakhine state Saturday, and that precautionary measures were being taken.

In 2004, the worst cyclone to hit the area in 30 years battered Rakhine state, leaving 140 people dead or missing and thousands homeless.

Cyclones _ known as typhoons in much of East Asia and hurricanes in the Western hemisphere _ are large-scale rotating storms that generate high winds and typically form at sea before moving inland.

_________________________________

APCEDI will continue to monitor the progress of Cyclone Mala as it moves toward the Arakan Coast.

While APCEDI does not normally monitor cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, given AFAP's tsunami relief effort and that of many agencies in the region, APCEDI will continue to bring reports from this region, as warranted, for the next year or longer if needed.

Kevin Vang
APCEDI Coordinator
http://www.afap.org/apcedi/

To donate to AFAP's Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Rehabilitation Programs in Asia and the Pacific, go to http://www.afap.org and click on the "Donate On-Line" icon in the top right-hand corner.