Thursday, December 13 was a clear crisp day as I flew from Dhaka to Kalapara, a little town in southern Bangladesh, the upazilla (sub-district) headquarters of Patuakhali district, the region that had been battered by cyclone ‘Sidr’ the night of November 15. Seeing firsthand the devastation caused by Cyclone Sidr was shocking.
At Alipara, about five miles further downstream from Kalapara and reached by boat, a motley crowd had gathered on an earthen embankment which had been breached. A chest-high surge of water swept through the gap washing away their assets – houses, livestock, crops and all. The villagers now survive on relief provided by various agencies.
Some of the storm survivors recounted that the Thursday night four weeks ago was possibly the worst day of their lives. “I have lost everything – my house and all that I had, my crops, my stored food-grains, and now I wait for help to rebuild my life”, said a 70 year-old man.
Taking off from Kalapara in a Bangladesh Air Force helicopter, we flew low over the cyclone-affected region. For almost an hour, over Kuakata, a tourist town on the Bay of Bengal, along the coastline, and over the affected areas of Patharghata, Southkhali, Sarankhola, Morelganj and the Sundarbans mangrove forest, a World Heritage site, we viewed the widespread destruction. It was a sad picture of huge swathes of land with destroyed standing crops, with virtually nothing left on the ground for thousands of acres. I have never seen such widespread destruction.
Cyclone Sidr had blown in that Thursday night in November with high winds of more than 200 km per hour and in its wake whipped up a tidal surge that ravaged Kalapara and over a hundred sub-districts in that region. Since its identification as a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal, Sidr had been tracked as it developed into a major hurricane and the Government of Bangladesh set in motion its early warning and evacuation procedures in the areas in the path of the storm. Over 3300 people died and two million people have been affected.
The post-cyclone relief efforts have been impressive. The Government’s pre-cyclone evacuation efforts saved tens of thousands of lives; it moved swiftly to help the affected people cope with the aftermath. But I was most moved by the people’s resilience and their determination to get back on their feet. This is the Bangladesh we know and admire.
Mariam Claeson
Tue, 01/22/2008 - 11:06 Does the Bank have any current projects in this area to help with the devastation?
Sat, 01/19/2008 - 10:54 Hi, I know that after the Boxing Day tsunami a few years ago there was lots made of the aid sent in assistance to people who had been in tsunami affected areas. I also have recenly seen much about how this aid was structured in such a way as to create a dependency among people who had until then been quite self-dependent and resilient. I agree that such events warrant aid (immediately), but wonder if by allowing for the immense amounts of aid that may be structured in such a way to create dependency is a good thing. I know individuals who are far away from the devestation want to feel like they are doing something...but perhaps the organizations that get involved should step back and provide assistance to organizations already working in the area (prior to whatever disaster)? Just wondering if you had any ideas about how to help rebuild an area, but ensure that the individuals there retain their own vision for the area and create their own preferred lifestyle.
Sat, 01/19/2008 - 01:17 Lets talk about the Health Care scandal that has been uncovered in India. The media is circulating several stories of official involvement. We would like to hear what is happening and where the money that is meant for the health care of poor people in India is going.