Floods in South Asia
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[edit] 20 millions stranded in South Asia
- MANY of the millions of people forced from their homes by floods across South Asia were desperate for food and drinking water today as relief operations continued. The flooding, described as the heaviest in 30 years, could even be the worst in living memory in some areas, has affected more than 20 million people and killed at least 1450 others in Bangladesh, India and Nepal since monsoon rains began pouring down in June.
- "If there is more water from Nepal then the situation will only get worse," Job Zachariah, the head of the Bihar chapter of the child welfare agency UNICEF.
- Helicopters were dropping thousands of emergency packets containing dry rations, candles, plastic sheets and matches over areas of northern Bihar, but some villagers said supplies were sinking into the flood water.
- At least 1120 people have died in India from causes linked to this season's monsoon. Large parts of northern Uttar Pradesh and northeastern Assam states are submerged.
- Heavy rainfall combined with Himalayan snow melt gave rise to massive floods late July in large parts of South Asia, including southern Nepal, northern India and Bangladesh, where 40 per cent of the land has been inundated.
- Nearly 250 people have died in Bangladesh, a delta nation prone to floods, since the start of the monsoon. Some 120 of them died in the last 10 days, officials in the capital, Dhaka, have said.
- About eight million people have also been displaced in the country, which is criss-crossed by a network of 230 rivers. Floods cover at least a fifth of its land each northern summer.
- In Nepal, at least 91 people have died in landslides and floods since the beginning of June, officials have said. Some 270,000 people have also been affected, mostly in the southern plains bordering India's Bihar state. Residents slowly began returning home yesterday as monsoon rains began to ease, Nepali officials said.
- The United Nations World Food Program has started a mission to feed about 60,000 people in the worst-hit areas of the Himalayan country over the next three months.
[edit] A letter from:
Michael Ripon Biswas Executive Director National Christian Prayer Fellowship of Bangladesh (NCPFB) 32/1 North Pirerbag,Swarapara,Mirpur,Dhaka-1216,Bangladesh Postal Address: NCPFB.Post Box-10047.Mohammadpur,Dhaka-1207,Bangladesh Tel:0088-02-8023374 Fax:0088-02-8312996 Cell:0088-01715364042 Email:ncpfb2003@yahoo.com,ncpfb@bangla.net
"In our Country there are 64 Districts. Already 50 district affected bt flood. Flood waters historically have indicated both judgement and blessing. So with those who are suffering so much in mind, we hold our counsel. However, we do believe that events like this should remind everyone very emphatically that for all our wealth, cleverness, sophistication, technical knowledge and self aggrandisement, last one month of heavy rain brings hundreds of thousands to survival mode in which all those things are of no help or value.
So the first thing we do is pray for those in such terrible circumstances and secondly we seek to find out some of the immediate needs like food,medicine, house repairing and endeavour to do all we can to help.
Already, we are informed of the Christian Centre at many places have lost much and suffered some property damage. The House of the Christian Church office has also suffered much damage through flooding. We continue to pray but we are also setting up an "emergency fund" here at NCPFB to help practically those we hear about in such desperate situations, it is simply to help people with their immediate needs.
In the meantime, we join with you and pray for all in authority; all involved in rescue and care, and all who have had their homes and businesses destroyed that God will grant strength, wisdom, patience and comfort in these days. Let us also pray that Christians will be available to get along side these people bringing help and hope amidst their despair.
The only ironic thought in my mind is that in a nation becoming increasingly secular, stating there is no God that suddenly we have according to our insurers, "an act of God." We do believe that God is over all, that He is the Lord of all creation, therefore we pray for sunshine and dry days over our nations and that the Gulf Stream, which we are told is causing the severe weather we've been experiencing, would resume its normal position for this time of year.
Please, pray on."
[edit] Death toll surpasses 3,500 in Bangladesh cyclone -Sidr- as hundreds of thousands await aid
November 2007
The cyclone that tore across the Bangladesh coast "like hundreds of demons," killed more than 3,500 people, 8 million people lost either house, cattle, crops, water, life or something. Authorities said, as survivors buried their loved ones and waited for aid to arrive. Hungry survivors scrambled for food Sunday as rescue workers cleared fallen trees and twisted roofs from roads to reach remote villages after a cyclone battered Bangladesh. There were 11,000 villages destroyed by the cyclone.
Half million hector land was damage by salt water. 40 church buildings were damaged and destroed by the storm. Many Christian friends are affected by this storm.
Tens of thousands of survivors are now struggling for basic necessities like tents, food, and drinking water. Teams from international aid organizations worked with army troops in a massive rescue effort that attracted help from around the world. But relief items - tents, rice, water - were slow to reach many survivors. Please pray for an effective and well-coordinated relief effort between government and humanitarian organizations and that those even in remote communities will receive the help they need urgently. May Christ’s comfort and presence be theirs in the midst of such a tragedy!.
The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Sidr, the worst storm to hit the country in a decade, rose to at least 3,500 as officials made contact with coastal regions that had been cut off by the storm, said Selina Shahid of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.
Mohammad Abdur Rob, chairman of the society, said the estimate came from the assessments of thousands of volunteers taking part in the rescue operations across the battered region.
On the devastated coast, rescue workers struggled to reach many survivors. "I've been here waiting for hours for something to eat," said Asad Ali, a 45-year-old farmer in Barguna, one of the hardest-hit districts. "What I've got so far are a few cookies. Not enough."
He said he received the cookies from a helicopter dropping packages of food. The aircraft have attracted mobs of people swarming below every time one is spotted.
Squatting on a muddy field with his wife, Ali said their only child, a 5-year-old girl, was crushed and killed beneath their toppled thatched hut.
Government officials defended the relief efforts and expressed confidence that authorities are up to the task.
"We have enough food and water," said Shahidul Islam, the top official in Bagerhat, a battered district close to Barguna. "We are going to overcome the problem."
"The donors wanted to know about our plan and how they can come forward to stand by the victims," Bhuiyan told reporters. "We have briefed them about what we need immediately."
The government said it has allocated US$ 5.2 million in emergency aid for rebuilding houses. Many foreign governments and international groups have pledged to help, including the United States, which offered US$ 2.1 million and the United Nations which promised US$ 7 million.
Many evacuees crowded onto ferries and trudged down sludge-filled roads to return home for the first time since the storm hit Thursday.
"I have had no news of my family since Wednesday, as the mobile phones are down," said Golam Rasul, who was travelling to see his mother and brother in Bagerhat district.
Many survivors returned to find their bamboo-and-straw huts flattened, their roofs missing, their crops ruined.
"We tied the corners of our tin roof to coconut trees with ropes, so it wouldn't fly away but our kitchen was destroyed and many trees around fell," said Shafiqul Islam, who works at a roadside gas station near Madaridpur, another hard-hit coastal district.
Thanks to an effective early warning system, at least 1.5 million coastal villagers fled to shelters before the storm. But Islam and his family chose to stay at home.
"We didn't think it would be so bad, but when the wind roared over us, it was very scary. We huddled together under the bed," he said.
Sidr's 240 kilometer-per-hour winds smashed tens of thousands of homes in southwestern Bangladesh and ruined thousands of hectares (acres) of crops.
"We have seen more bodies floating in the sea," fisherman Zakir Hossain from the country's southwest said, after reaching shore with two decomposing bodies he and other fishermen found on their way.
Other governments and organizations that pledged to help include the German government, which offered US$ 731,000, the European Union with US$ 2.2 million and the British government with US$ 5 million. France pledged US$ 730,000 in aid, while the Philippines announced it would send a medical team.
Tens of thousands of survivors are now struggling for basic necessities like tents, food, and drinking water. Please pray for an effective and well-coordinated relief effort between government and humanitarian organizations and that those even in remote communities will receive the help they need urgently. May Christ’s comfort and presence be theirs in the midst of such a tragedy!
From a letter from Bangladesh: "But already God has help us. He gives us Strengths, Spirit and others. I request, to please pray for Bangladesh people. If possible help our affected people. Our Government is trying. But problem is our country is a Muslim Country. Most of the opportunity are taken Muslim people. That is why please do something for our Christian affected people."
People try to rebuild their battered houses.
