Particularly heavy monsoon rains have caused the worst floods in more than a century in some parts of low-lying Bangladesh.
At least 69 people have been killed in the past two weeks there and in India’s northeastern state of Assam, according to Reuters.
“People have no food. They don’t even have access to drinking water since all the tube wells were inundated by the floods,” Abubakar, 26, a resident of hard-hit Sonamganj district in northeastern Bangladesh, told Reuters by phone.
Television footage showed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flew over some flood-affected areas on Tuesday, claiming vast areas covered with brown water, which was broken up by occasional outcrops.
The monsoon brings torrential rains to South Asia between June and October and often causes flooding, especially in low-lying areas such as Bangladesh, where rivers are often flooded with water flowing from the Himalayas.
Extreme weather in South Asia is becoming more frequent, and environmental experts warn that climate change could lead to ever more serious disasters.
Atiq-ul-Haq, director-general of disaster management in Bangladesh, said three more districts in the northern and central parts of the country had been flooded.
“The local administration, along with personnel from the army, navy, police, fire and emergency services, and volunteers, participated in the rescue and relief operations,” Haq said.
The floods in the Sylhet region, which includes Sonamgang, are the most severe in more than a century and the United Nations
The Children’s Fund said 90% of its health facilities were flooded, and cases of waterborne diseases were on the rise.
UNICEF said it was urgently seeking $2.5 million to respond to the emergency in Bangladesh and was working with the government to supply water purification tablets, emergency medical supplies and water tanks.
“Four million people, including 1.6 million children, stranded by floods in northeastern Bangladesh, urgently need assistance,” UNICEF said in a statement.
Television footage in some areas showed the Bangladeshi army dropping bags of relief supplies from helicopters at people waiting on rooftops.
Syed Rafiq-ul-Haq, a former lawmaker and politician in the ruling party in Sonamgang district, said the shelters were overcrowded.
“A lot of people are still without food and water,” he said.
“Cries for help are getting louder.”
‘Such devastation’
The floods have cut off three districts in the Barak Valley, and the waters in parts of the region’s main city Silchar have reached waist-deep, authorities and residents in the neighboring state of Assam in India said.
“The situation is very serious,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told Reuters.
“We will try to fly the fuel to Silchar and the other two areas immediately,” he added.
An official said the Indian army and paramilitary forces had been called in to assist in the rescue operations and had evacuated about 1,000 people in the past 72 hours.
Assam and neighboring Meghalaya received 134% more rain than average at this time of year, according to data from the state-run Indian Meteorological Department.
The government said about 4.7 million people have been forced from their homes in Assam, with about 330,000 people in shelters.
“I am 80 years old and have never experienced such devastation in my life,” said Magaharul Laskar, a retired government official in Silchar.