Bangla counts losses: 2,000 dead, 2.7 m hit

At least 2,206 people have died since the storm struck Bangladesh on Thursday, said Selina Shahid of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. The toll could rise still higher as more information comes in from battered regions.

Disaster Management Secretary Aiyub Bhuiyan on Sunday met with representatives from the United Nations and international aid groups to discuss the massive relief effort.

“The donors wanted to know about our plan and how they can come forward to stand by the victims,” Bhuiyan told reporters. “We have briefed them about what we need immediately.”

Rescuers struggled to clear roads and get their vehicles through, but many found the way impassable. “We will try again… on bicycles, and hire local country boats,” M Shakil Anwar of CARE said from Khulna.

At least 1.5 million coastal villagers had fled to shelters where they were given emergency rations, said senior Government official Ali Imam Majumder in Dhaka.

The worst-hit area was Bagerhat district, where 610 people died, said Ashraful Zaman, an official at a cyclone monitoring centre in Dhaka.

“We have seen more bodies floating in the sea,” fisherman Zakir Hossain from the country’s southwest said, after reaching shore with two decomposing bodies he and other fishermen had found.

Sidr smashed thousands of homes on Thursday in southwestern Bangladesh and ruined crops just before the harvest season. Ferries were flung ashore like toy boats.

Aid organisations said they feared food shortages and contaminated water could lead to widespread problems if people remain stranded.

Storms batter low-lying Bangladesh every year, often killing large numbers of people. This time a Government early warning programme saved a vast number of lives, UN Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien said in a statement. However, property damage was massive. Many evacuees who returned home on Saturday found their bamboo-and-straw huts flattened.

“We survived, but what we need now is help to rebuild our homes,” said Chand Miah of the small island of Maran Char.

According to the Ministry of Disaster Management, an estimated 2.7 million people were affected and 773,000 houses were damaged. Roughly, 250,000 cattle and poultry perished, and crops were destroyed along huge swaths of land.

The Government said it has allocated $5.2 million in emergency aid for rebuilding houses.