Thousands of people passed yet another day of nightmares in Chattogram division on Wednesday, with many of them, surrounded by water all around, living on their rooftops amid heavy rain and a shortage of drinking water and food.
The nightmare, brought on by heavy to very heavy rain from August 4, befell the people suddenly, with many of them not getting a chance to rush to safety as water rushed to them from the hills, raising rivers by up to four metres in a day and triggering landslides.
Over 56,000 people still could not return to their houses as they stayed in over 4,100 flood shelters opened in the division, where officially more than 10 lakh people were affected by the weather calamity.
The rivers in the hill basin, however, started receding as the rain finally subsided on Wednesday after battering the region for five days, improving the situation slightly.
With the recovery of three more bodies washed away by the rush of water since Monday, authorities on Wednesday updated the death toll from flash floods, landslides, and snake bites to 22.
The Chattogram divisional office confirmed the deaths of 10 people—six in Chattogram and four in Bandarban—over the past three days.
Over the same period, the deputy commissioner’s office in Cox’s Bazar said, 12 people died in the coastal district.
Road communication with Cox’s Bazar resumed after about 48 hours, though parts of the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar road remained under water, ending the wait for hundreds of tourists stuck midway since early Tuesday with water flowing at waist height.
‘Hundreds of people are still stuck on their rooftops, awaiting relief, particularly drinking water,’ Safwanul Karim, a journalist in Pekua, told New Age correspondent in Cox’s Bazar.
Pekua was still very difficult to reach.
The government virtually failed to reach the flood-affected areas until the army was deployed on Tuesday.
In Cox’s Bazar, home to over 2.8 million people, where officially almost five lakh people were affected in 60 out of a total of 71 unions, authorities distributed 83 tonnes of rice.
The deputy commissioner’s office in Cox’s Bazar said that they had distributed 37,500 pieces of water purifying tablets and 5,000 litres of water among the affected people.
The body of a 70-year-old man was recovered in Pekua in the morning after three days.
At least 60km of roads in Cox’s Bazar have been severely damaged.
Chattogram also reported shortages of drinking water and food in flood-affected areas, which comprised about 40 per cent of the division, the largest division in Bangladesh, measuring almost 34,000 square km.
‘We have been without food since yesterday [Tuesday],’ said Yasin Chowdhury Johny, a resident of Satkania, who was staying in the tiny storeroom in their room with his five family members.
The ground floor of Johny’s two-story building went under water, ruining their source of water.
Johny awaited somebody to arrive with relief.
The officer of the Chattogram divisional commissioner confirmed the distribution of 725 tonnes of rice and Tk 16 lakhs as relief in the division.
Road communication with Bandarban district remained disconnected until Wednesday afternoon as the highway remained under flood water, said senior assistant secretary SM Hasan of the divisional office.
‘Most of the areas in Bandarban district remained under water, though the flood situation started improving gradually,’ he said.
Suman Singha, executive engineer of Chattogram south of the Roads and Highways Division, said that the highway at Satkania and Dohazari remained under water, disrupting traffic.
Miron Hossain, a resident of Lohagara upazila, said that tube-wells in most of the areas in Lohagara upazila went under water, creating a crisis for drinking water.
Floods and landslides damaged hundreds of houses in the division.
Two bodies were recovered in Raozan and Lohagara on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Shahed Hossain and Md Sakib.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said that the Sangu was flowing above its danger levels at two points—171 cm above the danger mark at Bandarban.
New Age correspondent in Feni reported that 50,000 people remained stranded in floods in Phulgazi and Parshuram, with fresh villages going under water in Parshuram on Wednesday.
Phulgazi fisheries officer Uzzal Banik said that over 100 fish farms were washed away, causing an approximate loss of Tk 50 lakh.
Higher Secondary Certificate students are worried, for their final examination is scheduled to start on August 17.
‘I don’t know how I am going to collect my admission card that is going to be distributed tomorrow,’ said Sufi Hayat Mahmud, a student of Feni Government College.
Feni agriculture extension officer Ekram Uddin said that floods submerged 825 hectares of aman crops.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s highest rainfall of 98mm was recorded in Teknaf.
The highest temperature in the country, 35.5 C, was recorded in Saidpur.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department predicted light to moderate rainfall in most places in the Barishal, Khulna, Rangpur, and Chattogram divisions today.
The onrush of water from upstream India and Myanmar continued as the rain persisted there until Wednesday.
BMD said that rainfall might pick up for two days after today.
water stagnation in the coastal districts because of continued heavy rains, prompting the closure of dozens of schools and disrupting road communication.
