72 lakh Bangladeshis impacted by floods: IFRC

Record-breaking floods in Bangladesh have wreaked havoc as an estimated 72 lakh people have been affected and are in desperate need of shelter and emergency relief items in the north-eastern region of the country, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

IFRC in a statement issued on Tuesday said from early in the month of June, torrential rain and upstream water have completely submerged around 94 percent of the town of Sunamganj and 84 percent of Sylhet districts, in northeastern Bangladesh, bordering the Meghalaya state of India.

Parts of Meghalaya have experienced the highest amount of rainfall in decades, which has led to the overflowing of large river systems running between India and Bangladesh and completely swallowing surrounding areas.

Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Secretary General Kazi Shofiqul Azam said large parts of Sunamganj and Sylhet were completely cut off due to severe disruption of road communication and power cuts.

“We have never seen this sort of flooding in our living memories in that region. Hundreds of thousands of people took refuge as their houses went under water and almost all their neighborhoods inundated,” Azam said.

He said: “Our volunteer teams were on the ground helping people with much-needed dry foods, cooked food, and safe drinking water. Bangladesh Red Crescent has launched a strategy involving $10 million to carry out relief and recovery operations in the affected areas.”

While Sylhet and Sunamganj have almost been cut off from other parts of the country, multiple districts nearby including Netrokona, and Kishoreganj are also experiencing floods.

Bangladesh Red Crescent Society teams are also providing food packages to last at least two weeks, health care services through mobile medical teams, hygiene and dignity kits and tarpaulins and jerrycans.

The IFRC launched an emergency appeal of CHF 7.5 million ($7.8 million) to support Bangladesh Red Crescent to scale up and expand the reach of its localized response and recovery efforts to prevent and alleviate the suffering of 300,000 people affected by the recent floods.

IFRC Head of Bangladesh Country Delegation Sanjeev Kafley said, “Within just a month, Sylhet and Sunamganj have been flooded and the scale of devastation this time is so much more than the previous ones. We are scaling up our operations alongside the Bangladesh Red Crescent due to the urgency of the situation”.

He said the greater focus is on the urgent needs of the affected population for the first three months by expanding and scaling up the response of the Bangladesh Red Crescent. After that, he said recovery assistance will also be provided ensuring that the affected population will self-recover from the crisis in a sustainable way and strengthen their resilience to impending disasters.