The death toll from devastating floods in Bangladesh has climbed to 71, with millions of people still displaced and facing a growing threat of waterborne diseases as the floodwaters recede. The floods, triggered by relentless monsoon rains and upstream runoff, have wreaked havoc across the country over the past two weeks, affecting approximately five million people.
Over 580,000 families remain stranded in 11 flood-hit districts, desperately needing food, clean water, medicine, and dry clothing. Nearly 500 medical teams are providing treatment, while the military and other government agencies are assisting in relief efforts. Authorities are now prioritizing the prevention of waterborne diseases, a common consequence of such disasters, and ensuring access to clean drinking water.
The Directorate General of Health Services reported that nearly 5,000 people have been hospitalized in the past 24 hours for illnesses such as diarrhea, skin infections, and snake bites. Heavy rains in the capital, Dhaka, have inundated many districts, causing severe traffic disruptions and submerging roads in knee-deep to waist-high water.
Crops worth 33.5 billion taka ($282 million) have been damaged, impacting more than 1.4 million farmers, according to a preliminary assessment by the agriculture ministry. A 2015 analysis by the World Bank Institute estimated that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of annual river flooding, a threat that has intensified in recent years due to climate change.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that two million children are at risk from Bangladesh's most severe flooding in three decades. UNICEF has launched an urgent appeal for $35 million to provide essential supplies to those affected. "Year after year, the lives of millions of children in Bangladesh are being devastated by floods, heatwaves, and cyclones," said Emma Brigham, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh. "Climate change is clearly altering children's lives."
Over 580,000 families remain stranded in 11 flood-hit districts, desperately needing food, clean water, medicine, and dry clothing. Nearly 500 medical teams are providing treatment, while the military and other government agencies are assisting in relief efforts. Authorities are now prioritizing the prevention of waterborne diseases, a common consequence of such disasters, and ensuring access to clean drinking water.
The Directorate General of Health Services reported that nearly 5,000 people have been hospitalized in the past 24 hours for illnesses such as diarrhea, skin infections, and snake bites. Heavy rains in the capital, Dhaka, have inundated many districts, causing severe traffic disruptions and submerging roads in knee-deep to waist-high water.
Crops worth 33.5 billion taka ($282 million) have been damaged, impacting more than 1.4 million farmers, according to a preliminary assessment by the agriculture ministry. A 2015 analysis by the World Bank Institute estimated that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of annual river flooding, a threat that has intensified in recent years due to climate change.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that two million children are at risk from Bangladesh's most severe flooding in three decades. UNICEF has launched an urgent appeal for $35 million to provide essential supplies to those affected. "Year after year, the lives of millions of children in Bangladesh are being devastated by floods, heatwaves, and cyclones," said Emma Brigham, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh. "Climate change is clearly altering children's lives."
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