#cyclonemochaupdate

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Cyclone Mocha: Hasun’s Story

Photo: A Rohingya woman with a young child walks through a destroyed community near Sittwe, Myanmar. 

Hasun is Rohingya and father to 3 children: A 10 year-old, 7 year-old, and 3 year-old.

He shared that his community near Sittwe, Myanmar received information about the cyclone and flooding. The village administrator suggested evacuating to a safer place but didn't say where to go. Some people moved to other villages where they have relatives. Hasun said they didn’t have any relatives to go to. He and his wife didn’t know where to go with their three children, so they decided to stay home. On Sunday the 14th, around 12 pm, the wind started, and it became stronger and stronger. He was aware that the storm was very powerful and realized that he couldn't stay home anymore. There had been some cyclones before, but this time it was so strong.

Suddenly, more water came in quickly with high speeds and washed out his wife and mother-in-law.

He is not sure what time his family decided to leave the house. It was flooding outside; they were trying to get out of the village. Suddenly, more water came in quickly with high speeds and washed out his wife and mother-in-law. The water reached up to his neck. He managed to escape with his three children, but he couldn't save his wife and her mother. His wife's dead body was found hooked on the barbed wire fence. She was thirty years old.

He said some people wouldn’t have died if there was no barbed wire fence. Because of the fence, they had to choose a different route to escape, which took more time, and resulted in many lost lives. Some people tried to break the brick wall on the other side of the airport, later some police helped them break it, and they were able to escape from the flood.

His children are living with a family in another village, and the youngest child is always crying for their mother. Now, he is living in his village beside the road. Almost every house was destroyed in Sittwe, so it is hard for people to host another family. Now, the most important thing that they need is rice, food, and shelter.

The stories from our Rohingya friends whose entire communities were destroyed by Cyclone Mocha are heartbreaking to hear. The crisis caused by this natural disaster was gravely compounded by the dire conditions that Rohingya families endure under the Myanmar government.

We are called to bear witness to our friends' experiences as we stand in solidarity with them. 

Please join us as our team rapidly responds to the urgent relief requests from Rohingya communities in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha.

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[partnersrelief]

"I thought she had died” - An update on Cyclone Mocha

Hi Friend,

With communications gradually coming back online, the immense scale of physical and personal devastation left by Cyclone Mocha has become clearer.

"We didn't get information that the flood would be that dangerous, we didn't think that the storm was so powerful…When the storm began, and the wind howled, I realized that the cyclone was more powerful than I thought.”

Rawfiq, who lives with his wife and two daughters in a village near Sittwe, decided to stay because he thought it would be difficult for other family members to house them. “Suddenly, the flood came into the village very quickly. Luckily, I swam and managed to get to the land, but all of the clothes I was wearing and my belongings were washed away by the water.” 

His wife was washed away too. “I thought she had died.” Thankfully she was found alive a day and half later. As you can see in the video below, almost every structure in the internment camps and surrounding villages you’ve been supporting has been damaged or destroyed.

 “Now, I am living beside the road, I can't go back home. My house was totally destroyed…We have to travel too far to get drinking water, all the water wells and hand pumps are damaged and the water is salty now.”

Tragically, the death toll in these communities has begun to climb. As of yesterday morning, our relief networks have personally visited seven villages/camps and have records from those communities of more than 110 lives lost and possibly hundreds more missing. We are deeply grieved by the loss our Rohingya friends, who have already endured so much hardship, are experiencing again. 

Aid access is challenging and we’ve heard directly of government officials minimizing the impact of the storm to Rohingya communities. In response, we've done what we do best - respond immediately with action. Our relief networks are in place and have already begun distributions while they continue to assess needs.

Photo: Residents survey the damage to their communities outside Sittwe, Myanmar.

The resilience of these communities has and continues to be inspiring. Government authorities may choose to look the other direction, but we are compelled to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them as they work to recover and rebuild their lives.

When you give, you stand with Rawfiq and his family, and you stand with the thousands who have lost loved ones and so much of what they own.

The needs are great and we could empty our entire emergency relief budget 10 times over and still not meet every urgent need. BUT. So is the love of this community that always shows up during times of crisis in communities already caught in hardship of conflict.

Brad Hazlett, President

[partnersrelief]

Cyclone Mocha: Rawfiq’s Story

Photo: Rohingya community members survey the devastation to their community by Cyclone Mocha. 

Rawfiq lives in a village near Sittwe, Myanmar with his wife and two daughters. As Cyclone Mocha approached the mainland, the village administrator announced in the village that the cyclone was going to hit Sittwe at 100 and 110 mph. He told people to evacuate to a safe place, but there was no information about where they could go. The administrator told Rawfiq’s community to go to other villages where they have relatives.

Rawfiq said, "We don't know where to go."

Photo: Rawfiq, a Rohingya father, near Sittwe, Myanmar.

He told us that there were no arrangements for them to go to another place. He sent his thirteen and fifteen-year-old daughters to one of his relatives' houses. 

“My wife and I stayed home because I thought it would be harder for my relatives to host another family in their house”, Rawfiq added. “People didn’t know where to go; where and how they could get food, or how they would cook. These questions prevented people from being evacuated.

Mostly, children and women moved to other villages where they have their relatives. Some families who don't have any relatives had no choice but to stay.

On Sunday, in the morning, my wife moved to the neighbor's house because their house was stronger than our house. I was alone at home" Rawfiq said "When the storm began, and the wind howled, I realized that the cyclone was more powerful than I thought.”

Rawfiq decided to leave the house but at that moment, the roof of his house was blown away. 

I heard that my wife was also washed away by the flood when she was trying to escape. I thought she had died.

“Suddenly, the flood came into the village very quickly. Luckily, I swam and managed to get to the land, but all of my clothes were washed away by the water. I was naked and walking in the storm. I was able to get to the neighboring village where people gave me clothes. Some people were washed out by the flood. I heard that my wife was also washed away by the flood when she was trying to escape. I thought she had died but after a day and a half, I heard the news that my wife was saved by some people in another village. We didn't get information that the flood would be that dangerous, we didn't think that the storm was so powerful,” Rawfiq explained.

“Now, I am living beside the road. I can't go back home. My house was totally destroyed and I cannot even go there because of the mud. We have difficulty with drinking water. We have to travel too far to get drinking water, all the water wells and hand pumps are damaged and the water is salty now.

Now, I am living beside the road. I can't go back home. My house was totally destroyed and I cannot even go there because of the mud. 

We need clothes. We lost all of our clothes and are now wearing what other people share. And we need food, now people are sharing food that they have but it is not enough. Also, it is hard to cook, here it is hard to make a fire to cook. In my village, a total of 18 people died and lots of people got injured, mostly by stepping on nails.”

Rawfiq and his family are one of thousands of Rohingya families whose homes have been destroyed and lives have been devastated by Cyclone Mocha. Our team is scaling up their provisions of shelter and food in the Sittwe area as they are able, but we are limited in what we can do without your support.

Please donate today so our team can respond to the urgent requests for relief that are being shared with them by our Rohingya friends. Thank you for showing up over and over again with unwavering solidarity for Rohingya kids & their families.

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