ClickBangla

Economic loss understood to be huge; thousands still marooned

The death toll from Cyclone Aila rose to 121 yesterday, as thousands of people marooned in the coastal areas were battling to survive the aftermath with little food and drinking water. The storm that ripped through the southwestern coast Monday has left at least 32 people killed in Satkhira, 25 in Noakhali, 20 in Khulna, 13 in Bhola, nine in Barisal, seven in Patuakhali, six in Laxmipur, two each in Bagerhat, Chapainawabganj and Cox's Bazar, and one each in Magura, Natore and Lalmonirhat, said sources from the affected districts. The food and disaster management ministry however puts the death count at 91. According to reports from our correspondents, tidal waves churned by strong winds have inundated vast swathes of land. Heavy rains coupled with gales flattened huge tracts of standing crops and washed away numerous fisheries. They also caused extensive damage to embankments and levees in the coastal districts. The HSC and equivalent examinations scheduled for the next two days have been postponed in nine upazilas--Ashashuni and Shamnagar of Satkhira, Koira, Paikgacha, Botiaghata, Dumuria and Dakop of Khulna, and Mongla and Rampal of Bagerhat district. Jessore Board Controller Amirul Islam told The Daily Star that dates for these examinations would be declared later. Food Minister Abdur Razzak yesterday visited different cyclone-hit areas. He distributed relief among the locals at Panpatti village under Galachipa upazila in Patuakhali district. Our Barisal correspondent adds: In Barisal division, Bhola appears to have borne the worst of the cyclone. Road and water communications between seven upazilas in the district have been snapped for two days now. Local sources said Aila has destroyed thousands of hectares of crops including Aus, Aman and Boro rice, and vegetables. Manpura flood control embankment has been breached at many points. Strong current has carried away a 10-km stretch of the dam, and onrushing tide levelled hundreds of homes. People in the remote flood-affected areas were suffering from an acute shortage of drinking water. Our staff correspondent from Khulna reports: At 5:00pm yesterday, the death count in the cyclonic storm stood at 22, according to official sources. Of the dead, 20 were in Khulna district and the other two, women, in Bagerhat district. The storm and tidal surge have destroyed almost 80 percent of the forest camps in Chandpai and Sharankhola ranges, said Mihir Kumar, divisional forest officer in charge of the Sundarbans east wing. According to Khulna district control room, Aila has left around 30,000 houses in ruins. The number could be even higher once a damage full assessment is done. Unofficial sources said over three lakh people in Khulna and Bagerhat districts have remained marooned as of filing this report at 7:00pm. At least 90 percent of shrimp enclosures and flood control dams in Khulna and Bagerhat districts have been washed away. Cargo handling at Mongla Port, which was suspended on Sunday night, resumed yesterday morning. Our correspondent from Satkhira said at least 32 people including children were killed in Cyclone Aila. Shyamnagar and Assassuni upazilas were the worst affected. At least 90 percent of thatched houses and mud huts have been demolished by Aila-fed tidal surge, forcing thousands of people to take shelter in nearby buildings and cyclone centres. Those in cyclone shelters were passing hard times for scarcity of food, drinking water and medicines. The local administration was yet to launch any relief efforts. Meanwhile, fears were growing of an outbreak of diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases. Our Patuakhali correspondent reports: The number of people affected in Cyclone Aila is over 11.50 lakh. 400 Km flood control embankment and 75 km roads of LGED have been damaged. The district had at least 30,000 hectares of crops including Aus damaged in the storm. Our Gopalganj correspondent said hundreds of mud houses and trees were uprooted during the cyclone on May 25. The affected areas had been without electricity for over 24 hours. Land phone connections and mobile network were yet to start functioning.

Dhaka, May 26 (bdnews24.com)—The death count from cyclone 'Aila' that flung itself to the exposal coastline on Monday has reached 34 with more than 100 missing until midday Tuesday . The storm wreaked havoc on nine unions of Shyamnagar Upazila on Monday, leaving 20 people dead until morning, said a senior official from Satkhira district control room. Four died in Chandpur and two Chapainwabganj in addition to eight who died on Monday after the cyclone, packing winds up to 110 kph, made landfall along the coastline. Motiur Rahman, Shyamnagar police chief said, army personnel and Shyamnagar police salvaged the 20 dead bodies from Gabura and other places contiguous to the Sundarbans. An estimated 30 people were still missing. Satkhira district has been without any power supply since 11am on Monday until 11:30am, the bdnews24.com correspondent said. Several thousands homes were washed away and croplands damaged in tidal surges in low-lying coastal areas and on offshore islands in the Bay of Bengal. The government on Tuesday said five people died in the cyclone in Bhola and Potuakhali districts. Of them, three died in Char Fashion in Bhola and one each in Baufal and Galachipa in Patuakhali district, disaster management minister Abdur Razzaq said at a press briefing in Dhaka. However, bdnews24.com correspondents in Noakhali and Barisal report that three more died in the districts. At least 72 people are missing in trawler capsize and flooding in Bhola district. Thousands of people were shifted to makeshift emergency shelters along the southwestern coastlines which were lashed by tidal surges damaging nearly a dozen of flood control structures like dams, marooning thousands others. It is the second storm in the Bay of Bengal in less than one month. Several people were killed and hundreds of thatched houses destroyed in Cox's Bazar on April 17. Operations at the Chittagong and Mongla ports and movement of ferries at Chandpur, Barisal, Mawa and Paturia were suspended. River communications in the coastal districts were also snapped. However, the secretary to the Chittagong Port Authority, Syed Farhad Uddin, told bdnews24.com that the normal operation of the port resumed late Monday afternoon. Khulna district relief officer Sheikh Alimuzzaman said on Monday a number of villages in Batiaghata, Dakop, Paikgachha, Kaira and Dumuria Upazilas were flooded as the dam gave in at 36 places. In Satkhira, over 60 villages were flooded, Tabibar Rahman of district control cell said. A number of villages in Patuakhali and Bagerhat were also flooded, officials said. Bakerganj Upzila Nirbahi Officer Mehedi Masuduzzaman said a child named Rabbi died from falling in the yard while playing as wind-fed surge rose to four-five feet high. He said over 150 villages were damaged in two village under Mehendiganj Upazila in Barisal. Red Crescent Society's Bhola region official Bashir Ahmed said Char Fashion Upazila's Dhalchar, Char Kukrimukri, Char Patila, Char Hasina, Char Nizam and Char Kashpia were under 8-10 feet water.

Relief and rescue
Razzaq, the disaster management minister, said prime minister Sheikh Hasina directed the MPs to visit the affected areas. As many as 42,000 volunteers along with army, navy and coast guard members are conducting rescue and relief operations in the affected areas under local arrangements. Razzaq said damage and casualties were not severe as the wind speed caused by the cyclone was less. However, the height of the surges was much higher than before, 12 to 13 feet at places, forcing many people to seek shelter on rooftops. At places dams gave in due to the surge, flooding the areas inside the dams. The government granted 1000 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 12 lakh as relief for the affected people, the minister said adding there were already sufficient stocks of relief in the affected districts. The storm battered and flooded villages, forced thousands of people from their homes, uprooted trees and knocked out power and telephone poles, officials said.

Dhaka, May 25 (bdnews24.com)—Cyclone 'Aila', packing winds up to 100 kph, flung itself to the exposed Khulna coast on Monday, leaving at least eight dead, and 72 missing. The government said five people have died so far in the cyclone in Bhola and Potuakhali districts.But bdnews24.com correspondents quoting district administrations put the figure at eight. Of them three died in Chharfashion in Bhola and one each in Baufal and Galachipa in Potuakhali district, disaster management minister Abdur Razzaq said at a press briefing in Dhaka. He said prime minister Sheikh Hasina has already directed the MPs to visit the affected areas. As many as 42,000 volunteers along with army, navy and coast guard members are conducting rescue and relief operations in the affected areas under local arrangements. Razzaq said damage and casualties were not severe as the wind speed caused by the cyclone was less. However, the height of the surges was much higher than before, 12 to 13 feet at places, forcing many people to seek shelter on rooftops. At places dams gave in due to the surge, flooding the areas inside the dams. The government granted 1000 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 12 lakh as relief for the affected people, the minister said adding there were already sufficient stocks of relief in the affected districts. The storm battered and flooded villages, forced thousands of people from their homes, uprooted trees and knocked out power and telephone poles, officials said. Operations at Chittagong and Mongla ports and river transport service have been suspended. Ferry communication on Paturia-Daulatdia river route was on and off from Sunday night and was finally suspended from 3pm on Monday, causing sufferings to thousands of passengers. "Aila" moved northwards inland, the centre of the storm crossed West Bengal-Khulna coast near Sagar Island of India and lay centred at Kolkata and adjoining area of India. But the remaining part of the storm was still crossing, said a special weather bulletin of the Meteorological Department at 8:30pm. It is likely to move in a northerly direction further inland. Sea will remain very rough. Mongla port has been advised to keep hoisted danger signal seven. The coastal districts of Bhola, Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalokathhi, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Jessore and their offshore islands and chars will be under danger alert seven. Chittagong and Cox's Bazar ports have been advised to keep hoisted danger signal six. The coastal districts of Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur, Comilla, Chandpur and their offshore islands and chars will be under danger signal six. Under the influence of the storm, the coastal districts of Khulna, Bagerhat, Borguna, Satkhira, Barisal, Patuakhali, Bhola, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Laxmipur, Noakhali, Feni, Chandpur, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, and their offshore islands and chars are likely to experience heavy or very heavy rain accompanied by squally wind speed up to 90 kph with the passage of the storm. The low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Khulna, Bagerhat, Borguna, Satkhira, Barisal, Patuakhali, Bhola, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Laxmipur, Noakhali, Feni, Chandpur, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, and their offshore islands and chars are likely to be inundated by wind-driven surge of height six to eight feet above normal astronomical tide.

All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay have been advised to remain in shelter until further notice. Heavy rains triggered by the cyclone raised river levels and burst mud embankments, flooding homes. At least 72 passengers went missing when three trawlers sank in Meghna estuary at Monpura in Bhola. A woman died when she was swept by high tide in Noakhali. It is the second storm in the Bay of Bengal in less than one month. Several people were killed and hundreds of thatched houses destroyed in Cox's Bazar on April 17.

River traffic halted
The weather has forced suspension of ferry movement on all rivers routes. Fishermen have come back from the sea because of high tide.

Noakhali
A woman, Nazma, 30, was swept aside as low-lying areas of Nijhum Island went six to seven feet under water due to hide tide at in Noakhali. Noakhali was experiencing sporadic rains under the influence of Aila since Monday morning. At least 30-35 houses were inundated after water began entering many areas of the island from 10am. Jahajmara range official Hafizuddin said many deer were likely to be swept by the sea as water level rose than the normal level.

Bagerhat
The low-lying areas, including shrimp enclosures, went four to five feet under water in high tide in Bagerhat. Bagerhat deputy commissioner Moazzem Hossain told bdnews24.com that Jaimonir Ghol, Chila of Mongla, Malliker Ber, Banshtoli and Madardia Bazar of Rampal, Rayenda Bazar and Morelganj of Sharankhola went three to four feet under water. Authorities opened 10 control rooms and 219 cyclone shelters at all upazilas and district sadar. The affected people of the inundated areas have been herded into cyclone shelters.

Patuakhali
Five villages went under water as dam of Khajura point in Kuakata collapsed leaving thousands of families stranded. Hundreds of houses and trees were damaged in the rain and squally wind that occurred from Sunday night.