Families seek shelter in Myanmar as Cyclone Mocha approaches

Hundreds sought shelter and higher ground in western Myanmar on Friday ahead of a looming cyclone forecast to bring high winds and a storm surge to the eastern Bay of Bengal.

Cyclone Mocha is predicted to make landfall on Sunday near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, according to India's meteorological office, packing winds of up to 175 kilometres per hour.

The office predicted a storm surge of between two and two-and-a-half metres for the low-lying coastal region, which on the Bangladeshi side is home to sprawling camps hosting hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Residents of low-lying villages in Myanmar's Rakhine flocked to the state capital Sittwe on Friday, with around a thousand preparing to shelter at a monastery in the town, AFP correspondents said.

Some set down blankets and staked out sleeping places while unpacking provisions.

Thant Zaw, 42, said he had lost several family members when Cyclone Nargis ravaged southern Myanmar in 2008, killing more than 130,000 people. "I told my family we should shelter at this monastery," he said. "I have six children and I can't lose my family again."

Myanmar's junta authorities were supervising evacuations from coastal villages along the Rakhine coast, according to state media, which did not say how many people had been moved.

Any boats leaving shore in Rakhine from Friday afternoon would face legal action, the junta said.

Heavy winds and rain could trigger flooding and landslides further inland in Myanmar and Bangladesh, the United Nations office for humanitarian affairs office said on Friday.

Around six million people across Rakhine and Myanmar's northwest are already in need of humanitarian assistance, it added.