Deadly storm Cyclone Mocha hits Bangladesh and Myanmar coast
Cyclone Mocha brought with it heavy rain and strong winds, leaving residents in low-lying coastal areas fearful they may lose their homes.
More than 500 bamboo shelters in Cox's Bazar, the world's largest refugee camp, have been destroyed.
Landslides and floods are also hitting the area.
As the storm approached, police patrolled the coastline in the town of Cox's Bazar carrying loudspeakers, urging people to stay indoors.
The streets emptied as the cyclone intensified - the skies darkened, the winds picked up pace and the rains pounded down.
Hundreds of people crammed into a school in the city which had been turned into a temporary cyclone shelter.
Mothers with babies, young children, the elderly and the frail packed into any available space in the classrooms, sleeping on desks and sitting under them.
Authorities here say more than 500,000 people were evacuated from their homes in this south-eastern stretch of Bangladesh.
As many arrived at the shelter in rickshaws and on foot, they brought their livestock - cattle, chickens, goats - as well as mats to sleep on.
They had come from fishing and coastal villages, as many as two hours away, making a difficult choice.
"I didn't want to leave my house," said Sumi Akter, who lives on a riverbank.
Sumi and others we met here say they have lived through other cyclones in recent years and are resigned to the regular pattern of leaving their homes to the mercy of nature.
Storm surges of up to four metres could swamp villages in low-lying areas, Sumi and others here are fearful their homes may be submerged.
"I wish the homes we lived in were built more strongly," she said.
Not too far away from the cyclone shelter, close to a million Rohingya refugees were also feeling impact of the cyclone.
Bangladesh's government does not allow the refugees to leave the camps, nor build permanent structures.
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