Bangladesh hit by floods
Millions stranded, dozens dead as heavy rains continue
Heavy rains have caused widespread flooding in parts of Bangladesh and India, leaving millions stranded and at least 57 dead, officials said Saturday.
In Bangladesh, about 2 million people have been marooned by the worst floods in the country’s northeast for nearly two decades.
At least 100 villages at Zakiganj were inundated after floodwater rushing from India’s northeast breached a major embankment on the Barak River, said Mosharraf Hossain, chief government administrator of the Sylhet region. “Some 2 million people have been stranded by floods so far,” he said, adding that at least 10 people have been killed this week.
Many parts of Bangladesh and neighboring regions in India are prone to flooding, and experts say that climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events around the world.
Every extra degree of global warming increases the amount of water in the atmosphere by about 7 percent, with inevitable effects on rainfall.
In Bangladesh’s Zakiganj, people were seen fishing on submerged roads and some residents took their cattle to flood shelters. Bus driver Shamim Ahmed, 50, said : “My house is under waist deep water. There is no drinking water, we are harvesting rain water.
“Rain is simultaneously a blessing and a curse for us now.”
All the furniture in widow Lalila Begum’s home was ruined, she said, but she and her two daughters were staying put, hoping the waters would recede within a day or two.
“My two daughters and I put one bed on another and are living on top of it,” she said. “There’s scarcity of food. We’re sharing one person’s food and one meal a day.”
At least 47 people have been killed in India this week in days of flooding, landslides and thunderstorms, according to local disaster management authorities.
