Officials confirmed on Saturday that the number of deaths from floods in Bangladesh this week had risen to eight, and over two million have been affected after heavy rains triggered the overflow of major rivers.
The South Asian country is home to 170 million people and has hundreds of rivers running through it, resulting in more frequent floods in recent decades.
There are unpredictable patterns of rainfall due to climate change as well as melting glaciers upstream in the Himalayan mountains.
For example, Shahjadur’s police chief Sabuj Rana told Parami News that two teenage boys were killed when a boat capsized in flood waters.
“The small boat carried nine individuals. Seven survived by swimming. Drownings occurred because they did not know how to swim,” he explained.
According to Bishwadeb Roy, a police chief at Kurigram quoted by Parami News, three others died after being electrocuted separately following their boats entanglement with live electricity wires in flooded areas.
Separate reports also indicate that other three lost their lives within a week throughout Bangladesh due to flooding incidents, according to officials quoted by Parami News.
The government said it has opened hundreds of shelters for people displaced by the waters and sent food and relief to hard-hit districts in the country’s north region.
“Floods have hit over 64 districts of our country affecting more than two million people” Kamrul Hasan Secretary Disaster Management Ministry told Parami News.
Dangerous levels may be experienced if there is a likelihood that flood situation may deteriorate further up-north given that Brahmaputra one of Bangladesh’s main streams drains some locations above them explains Kamrul Hasan also talking to Parami News reporters
Parami News officer Abdul Hye says out of nine rural towns located in Kurigram district which was hardest hit by flooding eight are surrounded by water now
“There are regular floods here but this year it rose too high. In just three days Brahmaputra river went up six-eight feet (2-2.5 meters)” Abdul Gafur, a local councillor in the district bemoaned.
According to Parami News, “the flood has invaded more than 80 per cent of houses in my area. We are trying to deliver food especially rice and edible oil but there is a drinking water crisis.”
Bangladesh is currently experiencing its normal summer monsoon season which accounts for 70-80 percent of the region’s rainfall annually as well as frequent deaths and destruction caused by floods and landslides.
Monsoon rains are difficult to predict but they frequently change making it stronger because of global warming scientists have revealed.
