Floods upend lives of thousands

The extent of the devastation from the floods is becoming  visible as the waters are receding.

Thousands of homes have been washed away and many small businesses are destroyed.

Mohammad Mostafa, 66, a resident of Chhagalnaiya, Feni, said his paddy field on two and a half acres and stored rice were ruined.

"I have my three cows with me on the street. They are hungry too. I'm borrowing money to buy fodder for the cows."

— Abul Kalam, a farmer in Lakshmipur

"I don't know what we will eat when the relief effort stops," he said.

In Chhagalnaiya, hundreds of locals were running after trucks carrying relief materials yesterday.

Officials said around 80 percent of the upazila was inundated.

Due to heavy rain, the level of water increased in eight upazilas of Noakhali yesterday, reports our correspondent there.

In Lakshmipur, officials said 90 percent of the district was still flooded and over 8 lakh people were marooned.

Families, including the elderly, women and children, have been living on the sides of roads in the district.

Abul Kalam, a 62-year-old farmer of Char Kelakopa area,  said he had been sleeping on a plastic sheet under the open sky for a week. There was three-feet-deep water in his hut.

"Never in my life have I seen a flood lasting this long," he said.

Around 200 others were seen in similar conditions in the area.

"I have my three cows with me. They are hungry too. We are surviving on people's handouts," he said.

In Cumilla, the level of floodwater is falling along the Gumti river.

Abdul Latif, superintendent engineer at Cumilla East Water Development Board, said the river is flowing 22cm below the danger level. But as the embankment is broken, villages are still getting flooded in Burichang and Brahmmanpara upazilas.

The disaster management ministry announced that the flood situation will improve soon.

Water levels in all rivers are falling, and heavy rain is not likely, Additional Secretary KM Ali Reza told a press briefing.

Over 58 lakh people in 11 districts were affected by the floods. The disaster has so far claimed 31 lives.

Twelve people drowned in Cumilla, six in Noakhali, two in Feni, five in Chattogram, three in Cox's Bazar, and one each in Khagrachhari, Brahmanbaria, and Lakshmipur. Two people remain missing in Moulvibazar.

The government has opened 4,003 shelters, providing refuge to over 5.4 lakh people.