The ongoing gusty rain in the Southern region of Bangladesh since Saturday has killed two Bangladeshi children and 10 were injured due to a landslide. IOM, UNHCR, WFP and other government and NGOs are engaged in helping host communities and Rohingya refugees during this crisis.
Since Sunday, there has been 15 landslides, 25 wind/rainstorms, five flooding incidents causing short-term displacement of 14,801 inhabitants from 4,543 households and partial destruction to 427 shelters and complete destruction of 66 shelters.
While fighting back with the current situation the IOM Bangladesh Deputy Chief of Mission Manuel Pereira said, “The rain and wind are endangering lives and causing hardship on the ground and our teams are working around the clock to provide emergency services, repairs and relocations. While we are responding to the immediate effects of the rains, we remain focused on long-term disaster management and risk mitigation,”
In Shalbagan camp alone, approximately 4,000 households were displaced due to the rainfall which was worst affected. Some inhabitants were relocated on an emergency basis to 15 designated safe havens/communal facilities to ensure their immediate safety, while others moved with extended family.
UNHCR protection staff and partners are working to ensure that all refugees are safely accounted for and are reuniting separated family members. Shelter, food and access to clean drinking water are being provided. UNHCR Head of Office In Cox’s Bazar Marin Din Kaidomcai stated that “We are working closely with partners and the Government authorities to assist affected families. We also acknowledge the efforts of refugees themselves as well as the host community, who are at the centre of the response. We have trained some 3,000 refugees so they can respond to emergencies and reduce the risks faced by the community in disasters”.
Since the monsoon rain hit, the humanitarian agencies have distributed shelter kits, hot meals and high-energy biscuits to families impacted by the storms.
“WFP is well prepared for emergency situations such as this and we have assisted 12,500 people with extra food distributions including 6,000 hot meals and 6,500 boxes of high-energy biscuits. Additionally, our engineering and disaster risk reduction teams are assessing the impact of the rains and are on standby to ensure access to food and vital services are restored if needed,” said Peter Guest, WFP Emergency Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar.
ISCG Senior Coordinator said, “Funding is still urgently needed to sustain preparedness and response for the remainder of the monsoon season, replenish stocks, improve communications infrastructure, repair monsoon-related damage, and increase the capacity of mobile response teams. Only 38 per cent of the response is funded, compromising essential services and the health and wellbeing of both the Rohingya and host community population.”
To prevail over during this crisis, the Government bodies, NGOs including every individual are lending their hand to support the affected individuals through their thickest. As the rain expected to continue, planners are concerned about worsening damage to paths, bridges and drainage systems if conditions do not improve.
