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Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding across eastern Bangladesh.
More than 5.8 million people have been affected, with more than 500,000 people forced to flee their homes.
The floods are some of the worst to hit the area in three decades. People’s homes, belongings and livelihoods have been washed away.
People who have returned home are living in damaged buildings or inadequate makeshift shelters.
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ShelterBox is working with our local partner, Uttaran, to support people as they begin to recover and rebuild after the floods.
Houses in this part of Bangladesh are built on mud plinths to raise them above the level of floodwaters. We are supporting people to reinforce these plinths by building a brick wall around the perimeter of their homes to act as a barrier to future flood water.
For homes that have been severely damaged, we are supporting people to rebuild solid structures on top of the plinths using bamboo and corrugated iron sheeting.
We are also supporting people with a small amount of cash. This means people buy items to help them reconstruct their shelters, such as bamboo and wood, as well as other essentials to meet their basic needs.
More than 1.75 million people have been affected in southern Bangladesh. This includes displacement camps that house nearly a million Rohingya refugees.
People whose homes have been damaged or destroyed are sleeping out in the open. There has been substantial damage to infrastructure too. Many powerlines are down leaving people without electricity. Water sources have been damaged and polluted. People living out in the open, especially women and children, are at increased risk of violence. There are growing concerns about mosquitos and the spread of disease.
Bangladesh is thought to be one of the most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis. It is low-lying, has 700 rivers and faces the coast on the Bay of Bengal. This makes it very vulnerable to flooding and cyclones. And climate change is making such events more severe. As such the lives and homes of millions of people in Bangladesh are at risk.
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ShelterBox previously supported people after flooding in Bangladesh in 2017 and 2019. In 2007 we responded there to Cyclone Sidr.
We also responded to the Rohingya crisis in 2017 with International Organization for Migration (IOM). Around 688,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017 to escape violence and persecution. People desperately needed shelter, lighting, and water. After severe flooding in Bangladesh, these families were forced to set up makeshift camps in crowded conditions. The people who fled Myanmar were extremely vulnerable, having already experienced severe trauma. We supported over 4,000 families.
As extreme weather gets worse, we are changing how we prepare for disasters. In the last 12 months we have been focusing on preparations for potential disasters in Bangladesh. This work has given us a good foundation for our latest response.
Our response in Bangladesh is critical. We want to ensure people in these communities can shelter from the elements. There are no other aid organisations or government response in the area. We have also been meeting with local partners.
We’ll be working in partnership with a local aid organisation called Uttaran. They have experience working in cyclone-prone areas of southwestern Bangladesh. Together, and with local communities, we’ll distribute aid to people who need it most in Paikgacha, Dacope and Saronkhola.
Our focus is on helping people build emergency shelters. Our aid includes corrugated iron sheeting, timber, bamboo, rope and fixings. We want to make sure people’s living conditions are better than what they were before the cyclone hit. As such we’re focusing on higher quality shelter materials.
There will also be a small amount of cash so that people can hire local tradespeople to help them build homes. And Uttaran will be delivering training on how the aid items can be used as effectively as possible. This will help people repair their homes in a way so they can withstand future extreme weather.
Getting aid to those who need it will be challenging. Tracks to the worst affected areas are narrow. We’ll need to truck aid to the nearest main road and then use boats and / or electric carts to get the aid to where it’s needed.
Help us bring shelter to people impacted by disaster in Bangladesh and around the world.
Get the latest updates from the field and discover where we’re supporting communities around the world in the aftermath of disaster and conflict.
Learn more about how your support makes an impact on families around the world.
Read why we no longer use the term ‘natural disasters’, the definition of a disaster, and how we have come to change our language.