The government has prepared 4,000 shelters in coastal areas as a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal is going to turn into cyclonic storm Remal and is likely to hit Khulna and Barishal coasts of the country, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Mohibbur Rahman said on Saturday.

“We have stocked necessary things, including enough dry food, in each district. Besides, we have made preparations to ensure more supplies from Dhaka if necessary,” he told reporters after an emergency meeting of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme Implementation Board at the secretariat in the capital.

“As many as 80,000 volunteers have been kept ready to tackle the situation. We have taken an overall preparation,” the state minister added.

As the existing weather system is likely to turn into Cyclone Remal by this afternoon and later on make landfall on the Bangladesh coasts as a severe cyclonic storm on Sunday, the danger signal may be issued tonight, Mohibbur said.

Cyclone Remal is very likely to cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Island and Khepupara by Sunday midnight with wind speed of 110km-120km per hour gusting to 135km per hour, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Storm surge of about 1 metre above astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas of coastal West Bengal, while 3-4 metres above astronomical tide is likely to submerge low-lying areas of coastal Bangladesh around the time of landfall, the IMD said in its bulletin.