Islamic Relief is preparing to respond to severe flooding in northeast Bangladesh, which has seen entire communities submerged and families left homeless and destitute.
Around 1.6 million people in Sylhet, Sunamganj and Moulvibazar districts have been affected by extremely heavy rains and flash floods over the last 3 days.
Almost 75% of Sylhet district is now flooded, with more than half of its crops and paddy fields submerged – a situation which is likely to have lasting impacts on the food security of communities in the area.
“Many families, including young children and elderly people, are now sleeping out in the open by the side of roads, with only plastic sheets to protect them from the heavy rain. Their homes have been washed away and they urgently need food, shelter and other aid,” Enamul Haque, Islamic Relief Programme Manager in Bangladesh says.
“One of Islamic Relief’s own offices is now under 2 feet of water, but our staff managed to get all our supplies out in time. Roads are also submerged and communications networks are down, which makes it harder to respond and assess the full scale of the destruction.”
Islamic Relief’s response
Islamic Relief is already active in Sylhet and Sunamganj, where we run long-term development programmes. We are now preparing to distribute dry food, hygiene kits to reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, and cash grants so people affected by the floods can pay for essentials such as food, shelter and water.
The distributions will reach an initial 5,000 displaced people and then expand to reach more families over the coming days and weeks.
So far around 30,000 people have moved to shelter centres across Sylhet and Sunamganj, with this number expected to increase. In total around 825,000 people are reported to be affected in Sylhet, 650,000 in Sunamganj and 193,000 people in Moulvibazar.
The flooding is expected to continue for the next couple of weeks, with flood water coming from upstream in India. It comes as Bangladesh is still recovering from Cyclone Remal, which destroyed thousands of homes across the country in late May.
Please help Islamic Relief support communities affected by disasters in Bangladesh and around the world. Donate to our Global Emergencies Fund now.
Editor’s note: Image provided by Islamic Relief staff shows people travelling by boat down a flooded street in Sylhet.