Flooding in northern Bangladesh displaces 40,000 people, shuts schools

9/7/2024 19:49

        Flooding in Bangladesh has swept away homes and shut schools, displacing tens of thousands of people, the disaster and relief ministry said on Tuesday, and a forecast for more heavy rain over the next few days is expected to worsen the situation.
        
        Some 40,000 people are taking refuge at government shelters and more than 600 medical teams have been formed to treat flood victims, the ministry said.
        
        Television footage showed inundated roads, broken bridges and dams, as well as villagers wading through knee-deep water. Farmers also had to rescue cattle from the gushing waters.
        
        "Bangladeshis are used to flooding, but the water is coming up so high and so quickly in low-lying areas that people are being forced to shelter on anything, even rafts made of banana trees," said Liakath Ali, head of climate change programme at development agency BRAC.
        
        The local meteorological office has forecast more rain for the central and southern regions, but the swollen Brahmaputra river is expected to recede in the next few days.