DHAKA: Nearly 300,000 Bangladeshis are taking refuge in emergency shelters as severe floods inundate large areas of the low-lying country, according to disaster officials. The floods, triggered by heavy monsoon rains, have resulted in at least 42 deaths in Bangladesh and India since the start of the week, many due to landslides.
Lufton Nahar, 60, shared his harrowing experience from a relief shelter in Feni, one of the worst-hit districts near the Indian border: “My house is completely inundated. Water is flowing above our roof. My brother brought us here by boat. If he hadn’t, we would have died.”
Bangladesh, home to 170 million people and crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, frequently experiences monsoon floods. Climate change is exacerbating these events, shifting weather patterns and increasing the frequency of extreme weather.
The floods have damaged highways and rail lines between the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong, disrupting business and complicating access to affected districts. This disaster follows the recent student-led revolution that ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina, who remains in India after fleeing Dhaka.
Among the hardest-hit areas is Cox’s Bazar, which hosts around a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Tripura state in India has reported 24 fatalities, while Bangladesh has seen 18 deaths, according to disaster management officials. Approximately 285,000 people are currently in emergency shelters, with 4.5 million affected overall.
Despite the floods, recovery efforts are underway, supported by crowdfunding organized by the students who led the protests against Hasina. With rain expected to ease in the coming days, relief efforts continue as Bangladesh battles the impact of the deluge.
