Bangladesh floods kill over 50 in Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar

AFTER DAYS of heavy rainfall, flash floods have swept through parts of Bangladesh, causing landslides and leaving families cut off by large swathes of standing flood water.

Early reports confirm that 51 people have died, but the number is expected to increase. More than half the deaths were in Cox’s Bazar, which is still home to a large Rohingya refugee population. A week earlier, several students and a teacher were killed in Cox’s Bazar as floodwater cascaded through their school. The new floodwaters have now killed more residents.

The capital, Dhaka, has also been badly affected. Vehicles have been swamped by the floodwater, and people are wading, waist-deep, in urban rivers that used to be streets.

Bangladesh was ready for these floods. It monitored the rainfall and issued warnings. Student exams have been postponed. Residents were evacuated from some high-risk areas and thousands are now in government shelters, unable to go home until the waters recede. The authorities have stated that over 1 million people have been affected by the rain and the damage it has caused.

In the short term, the authorities are coping, but it is not clear that this is the end of the flooding. Some forecasters say the weather is improving, but others fear that more rain – and more disruption – is coming. In the longer term, climate change is likely to bring more and bigger floods. The new Bangladeshi Government will need to look again at its water management plans and evacuation strategies.

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