About 700,000 people still marooned in Bangladesh floods

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA): The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) joined the army and civil administration as rescue operations in Bangladesh’s southeastern districts continued for the second day, with approximately 700,000 people still stranded in floodwaters and in desperate need of shelter, drinking water and food.

So far, the authorities have rescued and relocated about 70,000 people to government-run shelters in Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, and Rangamati.

The meteorological office forecast that rain would continue to fall for several days, with no significant improvement in sight.

Road communication through the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway routes has been suspended for a second day due to floodwaters that have been flowing over the highway.

The situation is even worse in the hilly Bandarban district, where the local administration has been unable to restore electricity supply in the last five days, and road networks are completely cut off due to heavy rain and landslides.

Cox’s Bazar District Commissioner Muhammad Shaheen Imran told the media that floodwaters in the district have affected over 300,000 people, but over 35,000 others have been relocated to temporary shelters, including local schools.

A similar situation prevails in the port city of Chattogram.

“Around 300,000-400,000 people are stranded in floodwaters in the Chattogram district. However, more than 5,000 people have been taken to temporary shelters set up in safer areas. The highway connecting other districts via Chittagong-Cox’s routes remains suspended,” Commissioner Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman said.

Floodwaters are reportedly still rushing into several villages in another hilly Rangamati district. Around 35,000 people are trapped in floodwaters, and district authorities have so far managed to relocate 4,500 people to temporary shelters.

Meanwhile, over 200 Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar camps have been transferred to shelters away from landslide-prone areas, according to a senior official.

Rains likely to continue until August 15

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has forecast that rain would continue to fall for several days.

Md. Monowar Hossain, a meteorologist, said that monsoon rains are likely to continue for a few more days, with only a slight improvement from Thursday.

“However, heavy rainfall is possible from August 11 to August 15. This rain is normal in the month in coastal districts, but heavy rain in a short period of time causes waterlogging, in part due to the poor drainage system in place,” he added.