At least four million people have been affected by the worst flooding in north-eastern Bangladesh in nearly two decades, the United Nations said on Monday.
According to the Bangladesh government, the floods that began last week have submerged 70% of Sylhet district and 60% of Sunamganj, killing at least 10 people while two million people remain isolated.
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Villagers seek shelter at a makeshift camp set up for flood victims after heavy rains in Morigaon district, in the Indian state of Assam, May 23, 2022.
Torrential rains and an influx of water upstream in north-east India have swollen rivers in Bangladesh. The two main border rivers, the Surma and the Kushiara, broke levees, flooding hundreds of villages.
Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, head of the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Center, said the two rivers have reached their highest levels since they were measured in the 1970s.
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People cross a flooded road after heavy rains in Sylhet on May 23, 2022.
“This is one of the worst floods in the history of the north-east of the country,” he said.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) took an even worse toll: “More than four million people” were affected by the floods in five districts in northeastern Bangladesh.
“In this disaster, as is usually the case, children are the most vulnerable,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF representative in Bangladesh.
All schools and colleges have been closed in the region.
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A worker fumigates after heavy rains in Morigaon district in India’s Assam state on March 23.
At least 350 schools have been converted into shelters where more than 8,500 people have taken refuge, often with their livestock.
But according to Netai De Sarker, a senior official leading the crisis, the situation is improving: the waters are starting to recede from certain areas in the north, even as 1.23 million people were blocked by the waves on Monday.
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Children study at a makeshift camp built for flood victims after heavy rains in Morigaon district, in the Indian state of Assam, on May 23, 2022.
The government has dispatched 140 medical teams to treat people affected by the floods and try to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Flooding is a recurring threat to millions of people in Bangladesh, which lies very low above sea level, and neighboring north-eastern India.
Many experts believe that climate change is increasing the frequency, violence, and unpredictability of such weather events.