Bangladesh cyclone kills 500

(November,16, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) More than 500 people are feared dead today after a tropical cyclone packing winds above 150mph swept over Bangladesh, creating a 15ft sea-surge which destroyed houses, crops and vital infrastructure.

Three coastal towns were inundated by the rising waters while power and telephones were cut off across the country, hampering efforts of rescue workers to reach outlying areas.

More than 100 fishing boats were feared lost at sea.

Bangladesh’s main port at Chittagong and airport in Dhaka remained closed yesterday as the country struggled to deal with the after-affects of “Cyclone Sidr” which made landfall from the Bay of Bengal during Thursday night.

The World Food Programme announced it was to send emergency food rations for 400,000 people who are estimated to have been left homeless by the storm. The government, the Red Crescent and other organisations are also sending teams.

“There has been lot of damage to houses made of mud and bamboo and about 60 to 80 percent of the trees have been uprooted and the immediate need is for shelter,” said Vince Edwards, the Bangladesh director of the Christian aid agency World Vision.

Debris from the storm has blocked roads and rivers, making it difficult to deliver basic supplies such as rice, oil, sugar, salt, candles, blankets, mattresses to the affected areas, Mr Edwards added.

The biggest fears were for the coastal towns of Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalakathi which government officials said had been overwhelmed by the storm surge, cutting off all communication links.

The death toll was predicted to rise substantially yesterday however it will only be a fraction of the 500,000 people who died in 1970 cyclone and the 143,000 people killed by a similar storm in 1991.

Officials credited the use of a combination of satellite imagery and a word-of-mouth early warning system for enabling authorities to alert and evacuate almost 1m people from 15 coastal districts.

However the impact of the cyclone will be felt for many months to come, with agriculture officials in Dhaka saying that rice and other crops had been badly damaged, adding to the recent loss of two earlier crops in recent floods. “Life shall never be easy,” said Mohammad Salam, a farmer in Khulna. “We are destined to suffer.”
(Agencies)