Neighbouring Burma is upgrading its deepwater port in Sittwe, about 200km south of Chittagong.

BBC: Bangladesh pins hope on Chittagong port

The U.N. humanitarian office held emergency meetings in Yangon and Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, over the weekend.

WSJ: Cyclone Threatens Bangladesh, Myanmar

The UNHCR says that about 80, 000 people had been displaced in and around the towns of Sittwe and Maungdaw.

BBC: Burma: UN calls for inquiry over Rakhine violence

The estimated 45, 000 refugees living in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Myebon and Kyauktaw in Rakhine state are the "most vulnerable, " it added.

WSJ: Cyclone Threatens Bangladesh, Myanmar

"We hear speakers warning us about the cyclone, but we are still afraid, " said Ba Kyi, a Muslim community worker at a clinic in Sittwe.

WSJ: Cyclone Threatens Bangladesh, Myanmar

State broadcasters on Monday said over 5, 000 people have been relocated from the flood-prone areas around Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, to safer districts less vulnerable to storm surges or landslides.

WSJ: Myanmar Muslims Die as Evacuation Boat Capsizes

Local resident U Than Htun said the boat was crossing the mouth of the Sittwe River on its way to Sittwe, the state capital some 27km (17 miles) away by sea, when it sank.

BBC: Rohingya boats sink off west Burma - many missing

Barbara Manzi, head of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), told the BBC from Sittwe it appeared the boats "left the camp with the blessing of the authorities before hitting rocks".

BBC: Rohingya boats sink off west Burma - many missing