DHAKA (Reuters) - Disaster-prone Bangladesh braced on Friday for a cyclone gaining strength in the Bay of Bengal, raising the storm warning to signal number six and ordering fishing boats back to shore.
The storm "Bijli," packing winds up to 90 kph (55 mph), was around 460 kms (288 miles) from Cox's Bazar on Friday morning, meteorology officials said. It was about 490 kms (306 miles) from the main port Chittagong and around 330 kms (206 miles) from Mongla.
"Bijli is gaining strength as it continues to move towards the shorelines and may hit the coast by Friday night or Saturday morning," a meteorology official in Cox's Bazar, around 350 km (220 miles) from the capital, Dhaka, told Reuters.
Coastal districts have been experiencing medium to heavy rain since Thursday night, local officials said.
A weather official in Dhaka said the storm was likely to intensify further and cross Chittagong-Barisal coast by Friday night.
Authorities plan to close flight operations at the Chittagong airport from Friday evening, while many tourists have already left Cox's Bazar beach district, officials said.
Cyclone shelters have been prepared to accommodate up to a million people along the coasts, one official in Cox's Bazar said
Low-lying areas in several coastal districts and on offshore islands may be inundated by storm surges up to 10 feet (three metres) above the normal tide, other officials said.
Bangladesh grades storms with signals ranging from 1 to 10, and authorities start major preparations when the signal is raised to five or beyond.
Red Crescent volunteers, police and other security forces are also on alert to deal with any emergency, including a possible tidal surge, one official said.
Storms and cyclones batter Bangladesh almost every year, killing many people and causing huge damage to crops and property.
A devastating cyclone in April 1991 killed around 140,000 people, while Cyclone Sidr swept part of the coast in November 2007 killing around 3,000.
(Reporting by Anis Ahmed and Serajul Islam Quadir; Editing by Jerry Norton)
