More Heavy Rains Expected To Worsen Bangladesh And Northeast India’s Most Severe Floods In Years

Topline

Weather officials warned of more heavy rains in Bangladesh and Northeast India over the next 24 hours as the death toll in the region from landslides, lightning strikes and the worst floods seen in years continued to rise, while millions of people remained trapped by flood waters without access to relief and rescue.

Key Facts

In Bangladesh, the national meteorological department predicted “moderately heavy to very heavy” rain in parts of the country and warned that this may lead to landslides in the eastern regions of Chittagong and Sylhet, Bangla daily Prothom Alo reported.

According to Reuters, lightning and landslides caused by the monsoon rains claimed at least 25 lives in Bangladesh over the weekend.

In Sylhet, Bangladesh’s worst-hit province, some 300,000 people have been relocated to government shelters but more than four million remain trapped near their homes by flood water without access to critical relief supplies.

In the northeast Indian state of Assam—which borders Bangladesh—the Indian Meteorological Department issued an ‘Orange Alert’ on Monday urging people in the region to be prepared for “heavy to… extremely heavy rainfall.”

Assam’s death toll from the severe rains stands at 71 with at least eight others reported missing, according to India Today.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, more than 4.2 million people in the state were affected by the flooding as of Sunday, only around 190,000 of whom have managed to make it to government relief camps.

Big Number

12,000. That is the total number of households in the port city of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh that are currently facing the risk of landslides caused by heavy rains, Prothom Alo reported.

Key Background

Heavy rains and flooding during the monsoon season are a regular occurrence in the region, but the ongoing floods in Sylhet and Assam are among the worst that the region has seen in more than a decade. The low-lying region in Bangladesh and Eastern India is home to the Ganges delta—the world’s largest river delta—which flows from the Himalayas into the Bay of Bengal. Extreme weather events in the region have been attributed to climate change, with several experts warning that the rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas could lead to more catastrophic flooding and affect more than 100 million people. Aside from floods, the region has been hit by multiple tropical cyclones in the past few years resulting in hundreds of fatalities.

Further Reading

Dozens killed and millions stranded by India and Bangladesh floods (BBC)

Millions in Bangladesh and India await relief after deadly flooding (Reuters)