Worst monsoon rains in over a century submerge most of northeast Bangladesh and devastate the lives of over 4 million people

Monsoon rains – the worst in 122 years- have inundated major rivers in northeastern Bangladesh and submerged thousands of houses, impacting 4.3 million people. The worst is yet to come as flooding worsens and access to impacted areas is hampered, warns Oxfam.

“Tens of thousands of people in 10 districts are now trapped as the flood-hit areas are reaching their peak point. Thousands more are at risk of losing their homes and potentially lives as the water level continues to rise in the next few days,” says Ashish Damle, Oxfam Country Director in Bangladesh.

All Surma, Kushiara, Sari, Luva, and Dhalai rivers, which stretch across 64 Upazilas in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Molvibazar, Habiganj, Netrakona, and Brahmanbaria districts, continue to rise – some above danger levels. The flooding water has submerged up to 80% of some districts cutting power and internet and forcing flights to halt. In Chhatak upazila in Sunamganj, several hundred houses, more than 200 educational institutions, and at least 100 fish enclosures have been totally submerged just in the past few days.

Thousands of stranded people many of whom are pregnant women, girls, the elderly, and people with disabilities, are waiting on the roads and in temporary shelters. They urgently need food, drinking water, cash support, and sanitation services. But the lack of country boats and water congestion is making reaching impacted people difficult.

“Oxfam, together with our local partners, is responding to affected areas, supporting people with cash assistance, and water and sanitation services, including repairing tube wells and installing latrines. But the situation is going out of control very rapidly, and we need more support to scale up our operations” says Enamul Mazid Khan Siddique, the humanitarian program director of Oxfam in Bangladesh.

Oxfam aims to reach 150,000 people with lifesaving water, cash, and other services, but urgently needs $10 million to scale up operations.

Climate change has worsened the flooding situation in India and Bangladesh over the past few years. Heavy rainfall in some places of the northern and north-eastern regions of the country along with adjoining states of Assam, Meghalaya, and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal of India is likely to continue in the next 72 hours, putting potentially thousands of lives more at risk.