Hundreds of people are missing and presumed dead after Cyclone Mocha slammed into Myanmar’s Rakhine state on Sunday, causing massive flooding and damage in the internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees live in squalid conditions. The cyclone, which had winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, hit the coast near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, and moved inland, uprooting trees, destroying houses, snapping power lines and disrupting communication networks.

The IDP camps, which house Rohingya Muslims who have been persecuted and displaced by the Myanmar military and Buddhist mobs since 2012, were especially vulnerable to the cyclone’s impact. Many of the camps are located in low-lying areas near rivers and creeks that overflowed due to heavy rains. According to sources, at least 400 people have been killed by the cyclone, mostly in the camps. However, the official death toll reported by the military junta’s media is only three, with 13 others injured. CNN could not independently verify these figures. Many of the bodies of the Rohingya victims have already been buried according to Islamic customs, sources said.

Some survivors said they saw children, elderly and pregnant women among the dead. “I can’t control my tears,” said Aung Zaw Hein, a resident of Sittwe, who told CNN that he had performed funeral prayers for eight victims. “People are having a very hard time … because they don’t have food, they don’t have a place to lay down,” he added. “The people become homeless, shelterless, some people even become powerless. The same situation has repeated again in our life for the Rohingya people.” Aid groups have expressed deep concern for the plight of the Rohingya in the aftermath of the cyclone.

They said that the junta has not allowed them access to aid or life-saving safety information, and has failed to evacuate thousands of camp residents before the cyclone hit. “It is a nightmare scenario for this cyclone to hit areas with such deep pre-existing needs,” said Ramanathan Balakrishnan, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar. The junta leader Min Aung Hlaing visited Sittwe on Monday to assess the damage and deliver donations to its residents, state media reported.

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