More than 2 million people remained cut off in the northeast of Bangladesh after sustained extreme rainfall between May and July.
The latest mapping released by the Bangladesh Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on June 25 showed extensive flooding in the country’s northeast. Prolonged torrential rain and runoff from upstream hilly regions on the India border caused four rivers to swell beyond dangerous levels, triggering widespread flooding, Bangladesh’s Water Development Board said in mid-June.
The floods have left 2.2 million people stranded in Sylhet, Sunamganj, and Moulvibazar districts, according to BRAC, a development charity based in Bangladesh. Concerns remain that the extent of the flooding could cause a food security crisis owing to losses among fish farmers and inundation of more than 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of rice fields. The United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said 772,000 children were in urgent need of assistance.
Bangladesh is one of Asia’s poorest and most-exposed countries to climate change owing to its low-lying geography and population density. The World Bank estimates that by 2050 climate change will cost almost 10% of national income, and that 13 million Bangladeshis could become climate migrants.
Banner image of houses inundated during 2020 floods in Bangladesh by Oregon State University via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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