Floods are a regular threat to millions of people in low-lying Bangladesh, but experts say climate change is increasing the frequency, wildness and unpredictability. Uninterrupted rainfall last week has flooded vast areas in northeastern Bangladesh, with troops deployed to evacuate households cut off from neighboring communities. The schools have been turned into relief shelters to house entire villages that were flooded within hours by rivers that suddenly burst their banks. “The whole village was under water until the early hours of Friday morning and we were all ignored,” Lockmann, whose family lives in the village of Companiganj, told AFP. “After waiting for a whole day on the roof of our house, a neighbor rescued us with a makeshift boat. “My mother said she had never seen such floods in her entire life,” the 23-year-old added. Asma Akter, another woman rescued from the water, said her family could not eat for two days. “The water rose so fast we could not bring any of our belongings,” he said. “And how can you cook anything when everything is under water?” Thunderstorms have killed at least 21 people across the nation of South Asia since Friday afternoon, police officials told AFP. Among them were three children between the ages of 12 and 14 who were struck by lightning on Friday in the provincial town of Nandail, said local police chief Mizanur Rahman. Four other people were killed when landslides hit homes on a hillside in the port city of Chittagong, police inspector Nurul Islam told AFP. Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, quoted by Khulna in Bangladesh, said the situation was dire in many areas. “It rained heavily in the last few days which made things very bad. “But there was a break from the rain now,” Chowdhury said. “The army and navy are trying to save people who have been trapped. Food and clean drinking water are desperately needed especially in the remote village. Electricity has been restored in some of the affected areas. “We also know that some hospitals have been flooded. It has complicated the situation.” At least 16 people have been killed since Thursday in India’s remote Meghalaya, Prime Minister Conrad Sangma wrote on Twitter after landslides and flooded rivers flooded roads. Next to Assam State, more than 1.8 million people have been affected by floods after five days of incessant rainfall. Assam’s chief minister, Himada Bisua Sarma, told reporters that he had instructed local officials to provide “all necessary assistance and relief” to those trapped in the floods. People walk along a road in a flooded area after heavy rains in Sylhet [AFP]
“The situation is bad”
The floods in Bangladesh worsened on Saturday morning after a temporary relief from the rains last afternoon, the head of the Sylhet region government, Mosharraf Hossain, told AFP. “The situation is bad. “More than four million people have been affected by the floods,” said Hussein, adding that “almost the entire area was without electricity.” The floods forced Bangladesh’s third largest international airport in Sylhet to close on Friday. Meteorologists say floods are expected to worsen over the next two days with heavy rainfall in Bangladesh and northeastern India. Prior to this week’s rains, the Sylhet region was still recovering from the worst floods in nearly two decades late last month, when at least 10 people were killed and four million were injured. Both countries have called on the military to help with the severe flooding, which could worsen as the rains are expected to continue over the weekend. “We expect moderate to heavy rainfall in several parts of Assam by Sunday. The amount of rainfall was unprecedented, “said Sanjay O’Neil, a meteorological official at Gauhati, the capital of Assam. In Bangladesh, areas near the border with India have been hardest hit. Water levels on all major rivers across the country were rising, according to the flood warning and warning center in Dhaka, the country’s capital. The country has about 130 rivers. The epicenter was reported below the Pacific Ocean floor, however; no tsunami alert was issued.
