Even as the tally of the number of victims of cyclone SIDR continues to rise following early assessment reports by various agencies, it is also becoming obvious that the scale of its devastation is much more than just what these figures reveal.
In fact the figures may not tell the whole picture for days to come, since there is a continuing breakdown of telecommunication and transportation links.
This severing of links has made it difficult to access information from the most vulnerable areas that continue to be isolated two days after the event.
Four Red Crescent assessment teams together with members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society were sent out hours after the cyclone struck, but only one had made it to its destination after over 24 hours on the road.
One of these teams parked their vehicles by the highway and decided to hitchhike the rest of the trip. Visible enroute were signs that showed that this was indeed a major catastrophe and that there was no time to waste. There were fallen trees lying on the road in large numbers -- which had to be removed with the help of elephants. Alongside the road were also innumerable houses and buildings completely shattered by the cyclone.
“This is a huge disaster and we will know the full picture only after later” says Md. Shahid Ullah, Deputy Director, Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) at the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS). The CPP is a joint programme of the Ministry of Food & Disaster Management and the BDRCS. It has 42,000 trained volunteers that played an important role in helping with the evacuation of populations in vulnerable areas to the 1,800 cyclone shelters built in recent years.
“Even with so such a large force of people in the field, we have not been able to get sufficient information to complete the assessment.”
“But certain needs are very obvious. Safe drinking water is always a problem as a surge in water levels leads to contamination of ponds,” affirms Matuir Rahman, deputy director in-charge, Relief Department, BDRCS.
The assessment teams are distributing water purification tablets in large quantities. Between the teams they are also carrying 135,000 taka, the local currency, to buy dry food and medicines from local shops for nine medical units of the BDRCS that have been determined as the most critical.
This is because banks are closed on Fridays and there may be a difficulty in mobilizing money in certain local areas.
Relief materials that are already being sent out include rice and molasses and the BDRCS warehouses in Dhaka and Chittagong are going to move out family relief kits in large numbers.
Along with an appreciation for the early relief efforts, there is growing acknowledgement of the fact that even worse damage was curtailed because the cyclone landed in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, covering 3500 sq miles.
The trees in that forest, which is on the western coastline of Bangladesh bordering India, absorbed the impact as the cyclone passed into Bangladesh. However, there has been so much devastation, it is still impossible for government officials to visit the Sundarbans and asses the damage.
In the previously devastating cyclones during 1970, 1991 and 1994, the cyclone hit densely populated areas in the eastern side of Bangladesh. Morever, there were reportedly less higher tidal surges of 4 to 5 metres this time around, unlike the two-day long surges in 1970 which had caused severe havoc.
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Even as the tally of the number of victims of cyclone SIDR continues to rise following early assessment reports by various agencies, it is also becoming obvious that the scale of its devastation is much more than just what these figures reveal. (p16725)
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In fact the figures may not tell the whole picture for days to come, since there is a continuing breakdown of telecommunication and transportation links. (p16724)
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“Even with so such a large force of people in the field, we have not been able to get sufficient information to complete the assessment.”
“But certain needs are very obvious. Safe drinking water is always a problem as a surge in water levels leads to contamination of ponds,” affirms Matuir Rahman, deputy director in-charge, Relief Department, BDRCS. (p16726)
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There were fallen trees lying on the road in large numbers -- which had to be removed with the help of elephants. Alongside the road were also innumerable houses and buildings completely shattered by the cyclone. (p16723)
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This severing of links has made it difficult to access information from the most vulnerable areas that continue to be isolated two days after the event.
(p16722)
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