Monsoon flooding in Bangladesh
In 2019 heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding, leaving a third of the country underwater.
Find out more about the situation and how we supported families affected the most.
Heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding in Bangladesh, leaving a large part of the country underwater.
We supported families who lost their homes with essential aid items to help them rebuild and recover.
Find out more about the situation in Bangladesh and how we helped families who were affected the most.
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What happened?
In July 2019, heavy monsoon rains triggered flooding in the low-lying areas of Bangladesh. Around one-third of the country went underwater.
Flooding during the monsoon season is an annual event. But continuous rain and flooding in neighbouring Nepal and India had an impact in Bangladesh’s two major river systems in the north. This resulted in water levels rising to their highest in 100 years (source: IFRC).
Bangladesh is no stranger to water-related disasters like extreme flooding.
In August 2017, heavy monsoon rains above the seasonal average severely impacted the riverine region of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. This led to intense flooding in almost two-thirds of Bangladesh (source: ReliefWeb).
The impact of the disaster
The floods were devastating for the communities affected.
Floods and landslides damaged roads and vital infrastructure leaving thousands of people stranded and without electricity. More than 66,000 homes were destroyed.
Food and clean water shortages were being reported, as well as a rise in waterborne diseases like malaria.
Flooding can be extremely damaging for communities that experience it. Access to clean water is usually scarce, leading to serious health concerns like disease outbreaks.
Find out more about floods and how they can affect people.
Source: ReliefWeb
How many people were affected?
- As of 30 July, 7.3 million people had been directly affected (source: UN Bangladesh).
- Around 308,800 people were forced to leave their homes in search of higher and safer ground.
- More than half a million homes were damaged or completely destroyed, leaving even more families with no shelter or protection.
- 85% of the overall displacement took place in the nine most affected districts Jamalpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Sylhet, Sirajganj, Tangail, Sunamganj, Bogra and Bandarban.
How did ShelterBox respond?
Our teams travelled to Bangladesh to take needs assessments, in order to understand what people needed to start recovering from the disaster.
They met with local Rotary and government contacts as well as key humanitarian partners. These partners included the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), who we partnered with back in 2017.
Families told us that they need more space and protection from the elements. They also told us they would use shelter kits and tarpaulins to avoid crowding in host families’ homes by creating more living and cooking space.
Tarpaulins were also identified as useful items for future flooding events.
Our response targeted the flood-affected char communities of Kurigram in north-western Bangladesh, focusing on families who lost their land to river erosion.
The word char refers to floodplain sediment islands (‘island chars’) or sand bars that are connected to the mainland (‘attached chars’).
Island chars remain disconnected from mainland either seasonally or throughout the year.
In total we supported over 500 families with essential aid items.
Aid items families received
Shelter kits
A selection of hardwearing tools and materials that helped families rebuild their homes.
Tarpaulins
Two sheets of heavy-duty tarp that were used to create walls and roofs.
Snapshots from Bangladesh
Aklima and her family with a shelter kit and tarpaulin. The aid items they received helped them to repair their home which was damaged by the flooding.
Working with our partner the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society was been an integral part of the response.
Men carry their shelter kits home from the distribution site. They used these kits to repair their homes after they were damaged by the severe flooding.
A ShelterBox Response Team Volunteer works with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society to train people who were displaced by the flooding on how to use their aid.
Volunteers from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society train people who were displaced after the flooding on shelter construction.
This is Sekendar Ali at the distribution site. He received a shelter kit to help him to repair his home after it was affected by the flooding.
Mohammed from Char Baguya, Bangladesh carries his shelter kit on his head with ease as he heads home from the distribution site.
Volunteers from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society work together to offload ShelterBox aid off a truck ready for distributions.
Men and women who were affected by the flooding wait with a member of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society during distributions of ShelterBox aid.
Previous flooding in Bangladesh
In July and August 2017, torrential rains and floodwater from upstream caused widespread flooding and rapid riverbank erosion. Homes, land and livelihoods were destroyed.
The flooding in Northern Bangladesh was widespread. At its worst, more than a third of the land was submerged. More than 70,000 homes were completely destroyed, and 500,000 were partially damaged.
We supported people like Bizli, who woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of water rushing into her home.
Working with the Bangladesh Red Crescent and Rotary, ShelterBox supported 3,000 families with tarpaulins, mosquito nets and solar lights. These crucial aid items enable families to get on the road to self-recovery.
No family without shelter
We want to see a world where no family is left without shelter after disaster.
But we can’t do it alone. Your generous donation helps us reach more families who have been devastated by disasters like Cyclone Idai in Malawi, and severe flooding in Paraguay.
Please donate today and support families with their recovery journey.