Myanmar to evacuate 166,000 people from cyclone risk areas

Aung Min, Minister of the President's office said during a news conference held in Yangon last Wednesday that the government has finalized its evacuation plan for 166,000 people who will be hardly hit by a cyclone in Myanmar’s northwest coast. These people will be transferred to a higher ground and schools will be used as emergency shelters, said news report from AFP.

Reports from U.N. disclosed that although the movement of the cyclone through the Indian Ocean has weakened, it could still be risky and dangerous to 8.2 million people living along the coasts of Bangladesh, Myanmar and India.

Moreover, U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs forecasted Cyclone Mahasen to land early Friday and has been categorized as storm 1.

The much needed attention is now centered on western Myanmar where heavy rains is expected to flood low lying camps sheltering tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who were forced to leave their homes after sectarian clashes occurred last year.

Another disaster Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's southern delta killing more than 130,000 people and destroying the entire villages, the report said.