Two million stranded as worst floods in decades hit Bangladesh’s northeast
- Flooding was driven by both rains and the onrush of water from across the border in the Indian state of Assam, killing at least 10 people this week
- Many parts of Bangladesh are prone to flooding, and experts say that climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events around the world
Rivers in Bangladesh have burst their banks and caused the worst floods in the country’s northeast for nearly two decades, with about two million people marooned by rising waters, officials said on Saturday.
Floodwater rushing from India’s northeast breached a major embankment on the Barak River, inundating at least 100 villages at Zakiganj in Bangladesh, said Mosharraf Hossain, the chief government administrator of the Sylhet region.
“Some two million people have been stranded by floods so far,” he told Agence France-Presse, adding that at least 10 people have been killed this week.
Many parts of Bangladesh are prone to flooding, and experts say that climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events around the world.
Every extra degree of global warming increases the amount of water in the atmosphere by about seven per cent, with inevitable effects on rainfall.
In Zakiganj bus driver Shamim Ahmed, 50, told Agence France-Presse: “My house is under waist deep water. There is no drinking water, we are harvesting rain water.