Bangladesh faces more devastating flooding
Commuters make their way through a water-logged street after a heavy downpour in Dhaka on Tuesday. The death toll from heavy monsoon rains across South Asia has climbed to nearly 200.
Deadly flooding will persist in Bangladesh for the next 10 days, officials warned on Tuesday, as South Asia battles torrential monsoon rains which have already pounded the region for weeks.
In flood-prone Bangladesh — where almost one-third of the impoverished nation is underwater — officials warned of an extended disaster in one of the worst deluges in recent years.
“The flood has been going on for at least 20 days,” said the deputy chief of Bangladesh’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center, Udoy Raihan, adding that flooding usually lasted for two weeks.
“And it is likely to continue for another 10 days due to heavy rains in Bangladesh and India.”
The annual monsoon is critical for replenishing water supplies, but also wreaks havoc across vast swathes of the densely populated region, causing widespread death and damage.
At least 81 people have died in Bangladesh, mostly from drowning,, with almost 3 million people hit by the natural disaster through flooded homes and communities.
In Srinagar, a rural town just outside the capital Dhaka, some villagers fled to evacuation centers. Others slept on boats and rafts made out of banana trunks lashed together with ropes to watch over their flooded homes.
“The last time we saw such flood was in 1998. We haven’t seen such dangerous floods since then,” said Sheikh Moslem, 66.
In India’s northeastern state of Assam, disastrous conditions eased as the death toll edged up to 58 people since the start of July.
Many villagers whose homes were not fully submerged said they preferred to stay with their belongings despite the difficult conditions.
