650,000 Bangladeshis Flee Cyclone

Tropical Cyclone Sidr, packing sustained winds of up to 150 miles per hour, was expected to create storm surges as high as 20 feet that could inundate widespread areas in 15 coastal districts of the low-lying delta nation, the Meteorological Department said.

Coastal areas within a 155-mile radius of the storm's eye were buffeted by gale-force winds, driving rain and high waves, forest official Mozharul Islam said in Khulna, 85 miles southwest of the capital, Dhaka.

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Thousands of villagers moved to cyclone shelters - concrete buildings on raised pilings, or sought refuge inside "mud forts" - mud walls built along the coast to resist tidal surges. Schools, mosques and other public buildings were also turned into makeshift shelters.

At least 650,000 people had so far moved into official shelters, where they were being given emergency rations, Ali Imam Majumder, a senior government official, told reporters in Dhaka. Some 3.2 million people were expected to be evacuated by late Thursday, he added.