“Recent devastating floods in Bangladesh in 2024 plunged around 1.8 million people into disarray, following weeks of heavy rains that submerged homes and ravaged farmland, according to state media and humanitarian agencies.
Video footage shows large swathes of Sylhet town and neighboring Sunamganj submerged by water in the second wave of floods to hit the region in less than a month, the government news agency reported Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) on Saturday.
Widespread flooding was triggered by prolonged torrential rains and water runoff from mountainous areas upstream on the border with India, causing four rivers to swell beyond their danger levels, Water said. Development Board last week, according to local media.
Residents in the hardest-hit areas of Sylhet were seen walking through chest-deep waters, piling up their belongings to protect them from the muddy waters.
There are concerns for those trapped by floodwaters who now face food shortages and a lack of drinking water, local media report.
Around 964,000 people in Sylhet and 792,000 in Sunamganj were affected by the floods, and authorities announced the establishment of more than 6,000 shelters to help the displaced, according to the BSS report.
Among them, 772,000 children are in urgent need of assistance, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. More than 800 schools have been flooded and another 500 are being used as shelters, according to the agency.
“As waters rise, children are most vulnerable, facing increased risks of drowning, malnutrition, deadly water-borne diseases, the trauma of displacement and risks of abuse in overcrowded shelters,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF representative in Bangladesh, in a statement.
Significant economic losses were recorded among fish farmers as floodwaters washed away thousands of farms and ponds, with an estimated cost of over $11.4 million reported by local media.
Bangladesh, a densely populated and low-lying country, is prone to seasonal rains, floods and cyclones. But this South Asian country is one of the most vulnerable to the consequences of the man-made climate crisis, studies show. As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe due to the climate crisis, the humanitarian and economic impacts on Bangladesh will continue to deteriorate.
By 2050, 13 million people in Bangladesh could become climate migrants and severe flooding could cause GDP to fall by up to 9%, according to the World Bank.
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