Tens of millions at risk from severe Cyclone Fani

World Vison is ready to respond to Cyclone Fani (pronounced Foni) which continues to intensify, threatening millions of families and their children in India and Bangladesh.

Among those at risk are 900,000 mainly Rohingya refugees living in one of the biggest refugee camps in the world, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

Major coastal cities and communities are also at risk from the storm, which is forecast to make landfall today. Some areas are already being evacuated.

"Cyclone Fani is the strongest recorded cyclone in years for this part of the world at this time of year. Tens of millions of people are in its path. We are extremely concerned about the impact on children and families living in coastal areas, where winds will be strongest, as well as those living in low lying areas that will be prone to flash-floods and landslides,” says World Vision Bangladesh National Director, Fred Witteeven.

“World Vision has emergency supplies ready to go in the camps and we have had thousands of refugees working on improvements to camp roads and drains over the previous months. Nevertheless people are living in homes made of bamboo and on steep hillsides, which puts them at even greater risk."

“World Vision is well prepared to immediately respond to the needs of the communities when cyclone Fani makes landfall. Plans for immediate procurement and distribution of emergency relief material have also been made. All programmes where World Vision works, along the path of Cyclone Fani have been alerted and we have activated the disaster preparedness plans at the community-level. These grass-roots disaster management taskforce’s are the first responders and are trained by World Vision,” says Franklin Jones, Interim Head, Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs, World Vision India.

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