November 19, 2007
BANGLADESH (ANS) -- The death toll from tropical cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh rose to more than 2,000, with more than 1.5 million people living in temporary shelters, a disaster management official said Sunday.
“It is very difficult to tell how many people are missing at this point of time,” Masud Siddiqui, director general of the Disaster Management Bureau in Bangladesh, told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview from Dhaka. “The onslaught of cyclone was so serious that is hard to say how many people have been affected.”
Bloomberg reported that the cyclone, with winds at 155 miles an hour, swept in from the Bay of Bengal, crossing the Khulna- Barisal coast late Nov. 15 before weakening as it moved inland toward northeast India. Power has been restored in the major cities and services should be back to normal in other areas within the next two days, the bureau said.
World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization, reported that its staff have already been working with volunteers to house 20,000 of the displaced in World Vision-built cyclone shelters.
Its staff members in Bangladesh are also planning an aid response, initially valued at more than $600,000 for 100,000 families. These families live in World Vision projects in the Mongla region of southern Bangladesh.
“We will quickly be putting together a seven-day pack for families,” said Vince Edwards, national director for World Vision in Bangladesh, in a report on the World Vision web site. “This will include rice, oil, sugar, salt, candles, blankets, mattresses, and clothing. Some of our staff are staying with the people in the shelters, and as soon as the storm passes, they will be going out to assess the damage and the needs.”
Edwards added that his team will be looking specifically for collapsed homes.
In India, World Vision reported that its staff in the Kolkatta area are also ready to respond, with additional staff and relief team specialists on standby to assist if needed.
Millions of People in the Storm's Path
World Vision reported that the cyclone, which for a time was classified as a Category 5, ground up the Bay of Bengal toward the low-lying coastal areas of Bangladesh — one of the most densely populated nations on earth.
Most of Bangladesh is made up of deltas and alluvial land and is only a few feet above sea level, making it especially vulnerable to storm surges. Wind speeds of 149 mph, gusting to 183 mph, were registered before the cyclone hit land.
World Vision reported that Sidr also slammed India's state of Western Bengal, including Kolkata, with high winds and rains; western Myanmar also was affected.
Standing by for Action in Bangladesh and India
World Vision said that the triangular shape of the Bay of Bengal funnels storm surge waters into Bangladesh, with the surge worsened by the shallow water. Of the 13 deadliest cyclones recorded, nine occurred in this bay. The biggest — and the only Category 5 cyclone to hit Bangladesh so far — was in 1991. A 30-foot storm surge near the coast of Chittagong killed 143,000 people. But the biggest death toll to hit Bangladesh as a result of such a storm occurred in 1970, when more than 500,000 people died.
The government of Bangladesh declared the cyclone a 10 — the highest on their hazard scale — for the Mongla area. Bangladesh has a population of 142 million; of these, nearly 10 million live along the southern coast.
For more information go to www.worldvision.org
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission
