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Bangladesh reels from the worst flooding in nearly 20 years
Massive floods have ravaged parts of Bangladesh and India, leaving dozens of people dead and millions stranded.
People wade through flood water as they look for shelter amidst heavy rains in Sylhet, Bangladesh. [Abdul Goni/Reuters]
Published On 19 Jun 202219 Jun 2022
Monsoon rains have caused widespread flooding in northeastern Bangladesh and India, stranding nearly 6 million people and killing at least 41 people.
The flooding in Bangladesh, described by a government expert as potentially the country’s worst since 2004, was exacerbated by the runoff from heavy rain across Indian mountains.
“Much of the country’s northeast is under water and the situation is getting worse as heavy downpour continues,” said Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, chief administrator of Bangladesh’s Sylhet region.
Before this week’s rains, the Sylhet region was still recovering from what was then its worst flooding in nearly two decades late last month, when at least 10 people were killed and four million others were affected.
Seasonal monsoon rains, a lifeline for farmers across South Asia, also typically cause deaths and property damage every year.
Bangladesh and India have experienced increasing extreme weather in recent years, causing large-scale damage. Environmentalists warn climate change could lead to more disasters, especially in low-lying and densely populated Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s Sunamganj district – the worst hit – is nearly cut off from the rest of the country, Hossain said, adding that authorities and the army were focused on rescuing trapped people and distributing relief.
Many of Bangladesh’s rivers have risen to dangerous levels, said Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, head of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.
In neighbouring India’s northeastern state of Assam, armed forces were called in for rescue efforts after landslides killed at least nine people and displaced nearly 2 million from their homes in the last 10 days, officials said.
“Soldiers are helping police and civil authorities in several parts of Assam in evacuating trapped villagers,” Jogen Mohan, the state’s revenue minister, told Reuters.
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Torrential rains lashed 25 of the state’s 33 districts for a sixth day.
Sylhet region was still recovering from what were then its worst floods in nearly two decades late last month when at least 10 people were killed and four million others were affected. [Abdul Goni/Reuters]
People carry a victim's body in Chittagong after landslides struck houses amidst heavy monsoon rains and flooding in the southeastern Bangladeshi district. [Reuters]
People on a boat looking for shelter during floods in Sylhet. [Abdul Goni/Reuters]
Water levels in all major rivers across Bangladesh were rising, according to the flood forecasting and warning centre in the capital Dhaka. The country has some 130 rivers. [Abdul Goni/AP Photo]
A girl carries her brother as she wades through a flooded road on the outskirts of Agartala, India. [Jayanta Dey/Reuters]
Indian Army soldiers evacuate people from a flooded area in Hojai district, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. [Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters]
An elderly woman sits on a rescue boat in Jalimura village, west of Guwahati, India. [Anupam Nath/AP Photo]
Indian Army personnel rescue flood-affected villagers in Jalimura village, west of Guwahati. [Anupam Nath/AP Photo]
Photos: Bangladesh reels from worst flooding in nearly 20 years
Massive floods have ravaged parts of Bangladesh and India, leaving dozens of people dead and millions stranded.
Fresh floods hit Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands left stranded
Flood situation likely to deteriorate over the next 24 hours in worst-hit areas of north and northeast, officials said.
People wade along a road in a flooded area of Sylhet on June 17, 2022. Bangladesh has deployed troops to help hundreds of thousands stranded by floodwater [AFP]
Published On 17 Jun 202217 Jun 2022
Heavy monsoon downpours in Bangladesh’s northeastern and northern regions have stranded hundreds of thousands of people, forcing authorities to deploy the military to conduct evacuation and relief work, according to local media and official statements.
The Bangladesh military’s Inter Service Public Relations office said on its website early on Saturday that soldiers were deployed as floods have devastated the northeastern districts of Sunamganj and Sylhet where thousands of homes have been inundated and electricity has been cut.
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list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Women in rural Bangladesh bear rising cost of climate crisis
list 2 of 4Millions stranded as flooding causes havoc in Bangladesh, India
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list 4 of 4Photos: The deadly fire at Bangladesh container depot
end of listIn a statement, the government’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Dhaka, the nation’s capital, said on Friday that water in all major rivers across the country is rising. The country has about 130 rivers.
The centre said the flood situation is likely to deteriorate over the next 24 hours in the worst-hit Sunamganj and Sylhet districts in the northeastern region as well as in Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari and Rangpur districts in northern Bangladesh.
Hafiz Ahmed, manager at the Osmani International Airport in Sylhet, said that flight operations in the airport have been suspended for three days from Friday as flood water had almost reached the runway.
Last month, a pre-monsoon flash flood, triggered by an onrush of waters from upstream India’s northeastern states, hit Bangladesh’s northern and northeastern regions, destroying crops and damaging homes and road network.
Bangladesh was only recovering from that shock, when this year’s monsoon set in only a few days ago bringing fresh rains that have flooded the same regions again.
A nation of 160 million people, Bangladesh is low-lying and faces threats of climate-change-related natural disasters such as floods and cyclones. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, about 17 percent of people in Bangladesh would need to be relocated over the next decade or so if global warming persists at the present rate.
Millions of people marooned as floods ravage northern Bangladesh again
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People wade through the water as they look for shelter during a flood, amidst heavy rains that caused widespread flooding in the northeastern part of the country, in Sylhet, Bangladesh, June 18, 2022. (Reuters)
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People wade through the water as they look for shelter during a flood, amidst heavy rains that caused widespread flooding in the northeastern part of the country, in Sylhet, Bangladesh, June 18, 2022. (Reuters)
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Millions of people marooned as floods ravage northern Bangladesh again
DHAKA: Millions of people in northeast Bangladesh have been marooned by deadly floods triggered by monsoon rains, authorities said on Saturday, as they brace for a situation that could worsen. Rescue and evacuation efforts were continuing as incessant rains affected communication lines and...
arab.news
Updated 18 June 2022
SHEHAB SUMON
June 18, 2022 20:27
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- Authorities are still struggling to rescue people in remote areas
- Bangladesh was just recovering from similarly devastating floods last month
Rescue and evacuation efforts were continuing as incessant rains affected communication lines and submerged railway lines, with worst-hit Sunamganj district in Bangladesh’s Sylhet region out of electricity for the past three days, officials said.
Two people have been killed by the floods in the region, while at least 19 others were reportedly killed by lightning strikes and landslides in other districts in Bangladesh. The devastating floods came just as the South Asian country was recovering from a similarly widespread deluge that had trapped millions hit the same region last month.
“Four million people have been marooned in Sylhet,” Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, chief administrator of Sylhet region, told Arab News. “It’s a worsening situation. It’s still raining in Sylhet.”
Hossain said that the navy was called in on Saturday to help with rescue operations, as local authorities faced a shortage of water vessels to reach those who were trapped, and to distribute aid.
“At the moment we are facing a crisis of water vessels since we need plenty of country boats to rescue people from different remote areas. Now our top-most priority is to reach the flood victims and rescue them,” he said.
With more rain forecast over the weekend, state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Center is expecting the deluge to worsen amid the region’s worst flooding in nearly two decades.
“This is the worst flood in the Sylhet region since 2004,” Arifur Rahman, an executive engineer at the center, told Arab News. “In Sylhet region, flood water will be increased on Saturday and Sunday also. We hope the water will start receding from Monday onwards.”
As record rainfall continues in the region, an expert said that any increase in rain intensity could worsen the already devastating situation.
“All the major rivers are at a very high risk. If the rainfall increases in the next couple of days, it will worsen the situation; flooding new areas in northern and central parts of the country,” Ainun Nishat, a climate change expert and professor at the BRAC University in Dhaka, told Arab News.
Food is the main concern for 33-year-old Arif Chowdhury, who is now taking refuge on the second floor of his home with three other families, as the first floor of his house has been submerged.
“At the moment my only concern is to have some cooked food as we don’t have any electricity or gas supply,” Chowdhury told Arab News.
Abdur Rahman, a 48-year-old farmer from Jaintapur subdistrict in Sylhet, said that he couldn’t save any of his belongings when his home was submerged on Thursday.
“I just rushed to this school building along with my wife and three children,” Rahman told Arab News.
“We faced two devastating floods in a short span of time. We don’t know what lies ahead, how can we survive?”
Millions of people marooned as floods ravage northern Bangladesh again
DHAKA: Millions of people in northeast Bangladesh have been marooned by deadly floods triggered by monsoon rains, authorities said on Saturday, as they brace for a situation that could worsen. Rescue and evacuation efforts were continuing as incessant rains affected communication lines and...
www.arabnews.com
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