Gabura island authorities trying to evacuate 10,000 residents

Around 30,000 people live in Gabura, a small island in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira at the borderline of the Sundarbans. 

According to the local administration, Gabura had about 47,000 inhabitants before but the number has decreased due to migration to other places as the island has a 28-kilometre coastal embankment which was devastated several times.

Yakub Ali is a local fisherman who lives in a small shanty just beside the embankment. 

It has been raining torrentially for hours and as residents brace for cyclone Bulbul, Yakub's last hope is to take shelter in a small brick shop located a quarter mile from his home.

"I am not leaving. I want to stay at the embankment during the storm because I have two boats that I need to take care of," Yakub said.

The nearest cyclone shelter is a mile away from his house and it cannot accommodate all the people living nearby.

At 1pm when the wind already started blowing at a high speed, Hasina Khatun was cooking in her veranda. She was preparing for evacuation.

"My son went to catch crab in the Sundarbans. I am worried, because I do not know his current situation," she said.  

Her next door neighbour, Amirun Nahar, was waiting for her husband who is a fisherman.

Amirun did not get any message from the Sundarbans area. Her husband had left a day before to catch crab. She and her two daughters plan to leave home when the situation will become worse.

A school named 52 no Dumuria Government Primary School serves as the only cyclone shelter in the ward. Around 250 people can be accommodated in the two rooms of the school.

People have already started taking shelter in the school rooms. The rooms are already filled up with mostly women and children.

Shahina was asked to leave home and she arrived at the shelter along with some eight family members.

Her husband, the only male member of the family, had left for work in Shariatpur.

Nurunnahar has come to the shelter with her two daughters and four grandchildren. She left chicken and ducks at home.

GM Abibar Rahman, local member of the union parishad said, the school is the only cyclone centre that can accommodate only 250 people but the number of local residents is over 3,000.

However, Mohammad Ishrafeel Hossen, a teacher of the school, said around 700 people took shelter at the institution when the last cyclone hit five years ago.  

"At the time, the school became overcrowded as people stayed on the veranda and even in bathrooms," he added. 

Navy, coast guard and police officials are trying desperately to evacuate local residents since morning. However, people are not willing to leave their homes. 

Officer-in-Charge (investigation) of Shyamnagar Police Station Anisur Rahman Molla said, "Some people are not willing to leave behind their belongings at home. We are forcefully evacuating them."

Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamruzzaman said, "We are trying to evacuate at least 10,000 people from the island. It is a challenging task as we have a few hours to do it."

"There are people who we are dragging out of their homes forcefully," he added. 

With a few hours left before the storm hits, local officials are going door to door to look for people who have not left yet.