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Bangladesh: Flood: 1999/07 Country Information on DRR

Period 1999/07
Country or District Bangladesh
Event Type Flood
Outline The monsoon in Bangladesh started early this year on 7 June, and has been fairly active over the country. As of 3 July 1999, at least 15 districts are affected by floods.
Summary
Human Impact Physical Impact Others
Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/15
Three more deaths, bringing this year's unofficial death toll to 27. The road between Comilla and the northeastern district of Sylhet was threatened.
Bangladeshis keep up battle against raging river(Reuters 1999/07/14)
In the nearby town of Comilla, the floods had left about 60,000 people homeless, and about 20,000 people had been shifted to safety but many more were stranded in half-submerged homes. In the nearby town of Comilla, the floods had washed away 6,000 homes and rice paddy on 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares).
Five killed as Monsoon floods make millions homeless (Deutsche Presse Agentur 1999/07/13)
An estimated five million people were forced to abandon their homes due to the floods.
About 40,000 people took shelter in makeshift relief camps in the eastern Comilla district .
Bangladesh - Floods OCHA Situation Report No. 2(1999/07/13)
4,000 families have reportedly become homeless in Bagutia Bazar.
Some roads of Sunamganj District have gone under water, causing disruption of traffic.
Heavy downpour triggers fresh flood(Action by Churches Together 1999/07/12)
Water borne diseases, fever, influenza and stomach ailments have been reported from many places.
Reuters (1999/07/12) Bangladesh braces for floods as rivers rise
Early monsoon floods killed at least 19 people and left thousands homeless in the country's southeastern districts late last month.




Bangladesh - Floods: OCHA Situation Report No. 1 (1999/07/07)
More than 400,000 people are marooned in Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. Over 900 mud houses were destroyed in the Chittagong district, 4,000 ha of crop were affected, 870 mud roads and 100 metalled roads were damaged.
Standing crops in 20,000 acres of land in Sandwip have gone under water.
In Rajshahi district, over 10,000 ha of land and 500 acres of seedbeds have been washed away.
Agence France-Presse (1999/07/06) Two million flood-hit Bangladeshis need help
The death toll from rain-triggered floods in northern and central Bangladesh rose to 18 at weekend.
Some 20,000 families accounting for 100,000 people were worst-hit, with their homes submerged by water and mud slides.
Deutsche Presse Agentur (1999/06/27) 18 killed, villagers stranded in Bangladesh floods
Eight people were drowned in the flooded Halda river.
Five others were buried alive in Satkania town after a mudslide smashed their fragile shacks.

Related Links

Report/Articles

Relief Web

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) 1999/07/23

Reuters 1999/07/23

CNN 1999/09/20

Reuters 1999/07/21

OCHA Situation Report No.3 1999/07/21

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/21

Reuters 1999/07/20

IFRC 1999/07/19

CNN 1999/07/16
Bangladesh authorities order probe into a collapsed embankment.

Reuters 1999/07/15
Soldiers in speed boats evacuated more people from flooded villages on Thursday and ferried food to those still huddled in their half-submerged homes after a river burst an embankment leaving some 70,000 people homeless.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/15
Floods have forced at least half a million people from their homes in Comilla and drinking water is scarce there.This was causing dysentery in some cases, but that government rations had reached the area and there were no food shortages.

Reuters 1999/07/14
Soldiers, police and volunteers on Wednesday intensified a battle to evacuate thousands of people and save property after a swollen river burst its banks and flooded nearly 30 villages.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/14
Severe floods which have left 10 percent of Bangladesh underwater claimed three more lives as the country struggled to cope with the problem.

IFRC 1999/07/06
Flash floods and mud slides have occurred in Chittagong District, Cox's Bazar and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, particularly Bandarban, from late June onwards. In the latter district 20,000 houses were reported submerged by water and mud slides.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/13
Troops and villagers were Tuesday battling floods in Bangladesh after swelling rivers smashed three major embankments and forced thousands to flee their homes.

Deutsche Presse Agentur 1999/07/13
At least five people have died and 12 others have been missing ,millions have left homeless.

OCHA Situation Report No.2 1999/07/13
Forecasting and Warning Centre for the Water Development Board informed on 11 July that all major rivers were likely to rise further during the next 36 hours, possibly crossing danger levels at a few points.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) 1999/07/12
With all four major river systems on the rise, floods in the north, central and southeastern parts of the country is likely to aggrevate.

Reuters 1999/07/12
Bangladesh is bracing for widespread floods due to heavy rains that have swelled rivers throughout the country and forced one through an embankment, a government minister said on Monday.

IFRC 1999/07/12
Countrywide incessant rainfall in the 36 hours between 0600 hours on 10 July and 1800 hours on 11 July, measuring as much as 358 mm in Chandpur, and 239 mm in Madaripur, has further aggravated the flood situation in Bangladesh.

Xinhua 1999/07/09
The Bangladeshi government is considering some food security strategies to do away with continued dependence on the food import.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) 1999/07/08
Across Bangladesh hundreds of families have been rendered homeless because of soil erosion and rising water levels in almost all major rivers coupled with incessant rains.

OCHA Situation Report No.1 1999/07/07
While the 1999 monsoon season is active in Bangladesh, the country is still in the process of recovering from the massive 1998 floods, which had been considered as the worst in living memory and had affected 30 million people.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/06
Some two million people affected by early flash floods in Bangladesh.

Pan African News Agency (PANA) 1999/07/06
Application of improved housing construction technologies could serve to minimise vulnerability of buildings, infrastructure and services in human settlements.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) 1999/07/06
All the major rivers are still flowing below the danger levels but if the rains continue, there is a possibility of deterioration of the flood situation.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/07/06
Two major Bangladeshi rivers crossed their danger marks Tuesday, sparking fears of another round of floods.

Xinhua 1999/07/06
One-fifth of Bangladesh is flooded during the monsoon season from mid-June to September in normal years but that is not called a flood yet.

Xinhua 1999/07/03
Most of the major rivers continued to rise Friday as heavy monsoon rains pounded vast areas of the country during the past several days.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) 1999/06/30
Asia was rocked by a series of disasters Wednesday including deadly rainstorms in Japan, floods in China and an inferno that killed 23 South Korean children as they slept in a camp dormitory.

Deutsche Presse Agentur 1999/06/27
Thousands of people were made homeless as tropical floods gripped southern Bangladesh, leaving at least 18 people dead in the past week.

[ERI Emergency Relief Information]

OCHA Situation Report No.2 1999/07/13
13 MT of rice, 2.5 MT of dal (lentil), 16 bales of clothes, 400 aluminium drinking mugs and 10 rolls of plastic sheets, were distributed by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society to the worst affected people.

IFRC 1999/07/06
The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society has sent the following relief materials to nine districts: Rice 16,500(kg) Dal 2,200(kg) Old clothing 1,000(pc) Tiffin carrier 250(pc)