The United States is providing $250,000 to assist Cyclone Mocha emergency relief efforts in the most severely affected areas.

“The people of the United States stand with the people of Bangladesh and the Rohingya refugees affected by the cyclone,” US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas said today.

On May 14, Cyclone Mocha moved through the Bay of Bengal, making landfall in Myanmar and Bangladesh, affecting over nearly half a million Bangladeshis living in coastal areas and almost one million Rohingyas in refugee camps.

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The storm was one of the strongest in recent years causing significant tidal surges, heavy rain, and wind speeds of up to 140 km per hour in Bangladesh, resulting in widespread wind damage, flooding, and landslides.

The United States has worked closely with Bangladesh to improve disaster preparedness and response over the past five decades of partnership.

Through the US Agency for International Development, the US government has built 900 multi-purpose disaster shelters in the most vulnerable areas of Bangladesh since 2001 and invested in early warning systems that keep hundreds of thousands of people safe from cyclones, flooding, and other emergencies.

The United States is also the largest contributor to Rohingya refugee relief efforts, said the Embassy.