4,000 people have moved from low-lying villages to Labutta Town in Ayeyarwady Region as a precaution against an impending cyclone, according to residents in Labutta Town.

Residents from coastal villages in Labutta Township and Pyinsalu Sub-Township started arriving in Labutta Town on 7 May. They are currently sheltering in monasteries and schools, according to a volunteer assisting the evacuees.

He explained that there are cyclone shelters in the low-lying areas of Labutta Township, but not enough to protect all the residents, so people are taking shelter in Labutta Town.

He said: “Cyclone evacuees have been arriving since 7 May. Because Cyclone Nargis was such a disaster last time, they planned to avoid it [the cyclone] this time. Locals who are unable to travel to town are also seeking shelter in highland communities.”

When he was asked about the areas that were worst hit by Cyclone Nargis said that there were no longer people in the areas of Ngapudaw Township that were some of the places worst hit by Cyclone Nargis because following the cyclone they had moved to live on higher ground.

A resident of Asinchaing Village in Ngapudaw Township said: "All the coastal villages relocated to the mountains after Cyclone Nargis. The locals in this area don't fear the cyclone. Nobody has yet planned to avoid the cyclone because of their only concern is high tides.”

According to volunteers, the military council has yet to visit the locals who have fled to Labutta Town and only a few village and ward administrators are conducting population census polls.

According to a report released by the junta’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, a low-pressure region in the Bay of Bengal could become a cyclone on the morning of 10 May and may move through the Bay of Bengal's eastern central area of the Bay of Bengal before hitting the coastlines of Bangladesh and Myanmar on 12 May.