Flash flood strikes haor area

Flash flood strikes haor area

People in the haor region in Bangladesh’s north-east started facing flash flood on Sunday because of heavy rains caused by cyclone Fani inside Bangladesh and upstream in neighbouring India while the rebuilding of damaged houses began elsewhere.

Thousands of hectares of cropland in south-western Bangladesh went under water as the weakened cyclone crossed Bangladesh on Saturday affecting 8,500km protection embankment with high wind and tidal surges. 

On Sunday, vast haor areas, some of them with standing boro crops, went under water after protection embankments were breached by rapidly rising rivers in five upazilas of Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrakona districts.Although an immediate estimate of losses caused by flash flood was not available, the Department of Agricultural Extension on Sunday said that the cyclone affected 63,663 hectares cropland, including 55,609 hectares of boro field, in 21 districts.

Biplab Roy, a resident of Jamalganj in Sunamganj, said, ‘I pray to the almighty so that the flood water recedes fast and I could save some of my crops.’Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre executive engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuyan said that the cyclone Fani dumped large amount of rains in Bangladesh and in Assam and Meghalaya in India in 24 hours causing the flash floods.

In the upstream Cherrapunji and Shillong received 276mm and 127mm rainfall while more than 50mm rainfall was common in many places in Bangladesh during the same time, showed flood forecasting bulletin.

The bulletin issued in the afternoon predicted that major rivers in the north-eastern districts would continue to rise in the next 24 hours.A flash flood warning for the first week of May was already in the forecast even before the cyclone Fani was formed. It became only obvious after Fani barrelled into Indian state of Odisha as a super cyclone with driving rains Friday morning. 

Although the cyclone weakened as it approached Bangladesh still it reached the country with enough strength to breach embankments as it dealt its hardest blow on Saturday killing 11 people.Biplab said that local people guarded crop protection embankments at Jamalganj and Tahirpur as heavy rains continued in their area while the cyclone moved towards India Saturday evening. 

‘Rivers rose rapidly and the embankments were too weak to withstand the rising water pressure,’ he said.Embankments at south-western districts were not much strong either as a slightly higher than usual tidal surge broke them.

The major affected districts were Khulna, Pirojpur, Barguna, Satkhira, Bhola, Patuakhali and Jhalakati.Crops affected in the districts due to flooding were rice, mung beans, chilis, vegetables, soya bean, maize and seasame.Local office of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Sunamganj estimated that about 20,000 hectares of crop land in Shanir haor and Halir haor went under water.

Flash flood situation at two upazilas in Netrakona was reported to be deteriorating by the flood forecasting centre in the afternoon.Overflowing Sarigowain River caused flash flood at Gowainghat upazila.The flood forecasting centre said that rivers in the haor region, including Kangsha, Jadukata, Sarigowain and Someshwari, rose up to over three metres in 24 hours.The flash flood came after farmers in the affected areas harvested about 80 per cent of their boro crops. 

In badly affected coastal districts, cyclone victims spent Sunday clearing debris or finding shelter as government promised help to get them back to normal life as soon as possible.

Noakhali deputy commissioner Tanmaya Das said that 4,300 people took shelter in seven government schools in Noakhali sadar and Subarnachar areas after the cyclone flattened their houses.These poor people lived in thatched or corrugated iron sheet-roofed houses on government provided khas lands. 

‘The cyclone shredded their houses by bits and pieces and blew them away,’ said Tanmaya.As these people removed debris on their land on Sunday, they found it all foreign for it came from somewhere else blown by the wind, said Tanmaya.He hoped that it would take about a month to get the houses rebuilt.

In less affected areas, people took a sigh of relief in a sun shining day as communication resumed on inland waterways after nearly three days and power supply was largely restored. 

Plying of vessels in the sea also resumed fully on Sunday after the Met Office revised its weather advisory cancelling danger signals that had been issued for all the maritime ports since April 30.Prime Minister’s Offices press wing in a release said that relevant departments were ordered to reach affected people with help at the earliest.

News agency United News of Bangladesh reported, quoting an Inter Service Public Relations release, that army began providing medical assistance to cyclone victims.In its daily disaster report, the disaster management and relief ministry on Sunday said that the government distributed 3,800 tonnes of rice, Tk 1.97 crore in cash and 41,000 dry food packets in 20 districts.The National Disaster Response Coordination Centre in its primary estimate of cyclone losses said that the cyclone damaged 2,243 houses completely and 11,172 houses partially.