Tropical Cyclone Aila - May 2009

Coastal communities protect themselves by planting mangrove forests along embankments, reducing damage from encroaching waves

By Moushumi Basu

GOSABA, India, Nov 27 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Pushpo Mandal still remembers the day, nine years ago, when Cyclone Aila struck and the slender creek at the southern edge of her village swelled into a watery monster.

INTRODUCTION

This publication is an initiative of the Regional Consultative Group (RCG) on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination for Asia and the Pacific. The RCG seeks to not only link the region with the Global Consultative Group on Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination, but also to provide a learning platform for good practice. This publication focuses on Asia and the five priority countries in this region that are highly vulnerable to large-scale natural disasters: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, and the Philippines.

It is time we stop a hazard from becoming a disaster. Local communities have the knowledge and resilience.

Shweta Jayawardhan

Abstract

Key messages

• India is highly vulnerable to natural disasters including cyclones, floods, earthquakes and drought; strengthening people’s resilience to natural disasters is an essential part of the humanitarian effort.

• Three protracted crises, Jammu & Kashmir, the North-Eastern States and Naxal-affected areas in central India have created emergency needs. Years of conflict have displaced populations and left many without means to provide for themselves. Providing protection, health and nutrition remains a priority.

This time last year I was travelling to Bangladesh to the coastal areas to see Islamic Relief Bangladesh Climate Adaptation Livelihoods projects. Looking back, the people I met along the way have truly touched my life in ways more than I ever imagined .

Authored By : Usha Dewani Das

In 2009, Cyclone Aila caused significant damage to livelihoods in the Sunderbans. While saline soil is subversive to agriculture in the area, integrated farming gives many the courage to start afresh.

Global Estimates 2015 - People displaced by disasters

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Highlights

• 16,755 people affected by Aila benefitted from the comprehensive recovery efforts

• 265 families benefited from core family shelters

• 30 deep tub-wells and 250 rainwater collection ponds were created to collect freshwater

• 3 km of embankments were rebuilt to protect against floods; 3km of afforestation implemented to protect against soil degradation/landslides

Mohammad Alomgir, of Islamic Relief Bangladesh, was amongst the first to respond in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila, which devastated communities in Bangladesh five years ago. He blogs on how people are still suffering half a decade later, and what the international community should be doing to prepare vulnerable countries for future disasters.

SUBMITTED BY MUTHUKUMARA MANI ON WED, 05/07/2014

By Mahin Rashid and Troy Beckman

After losing everything in Cyclone Aila, farmers use flood- and salt-tolerant seeds to resurrect rice paddies.

Mohammad Mofizul Islam Gazi is a farmer and father of two living on the front lines of climate change in southern Bangladesh—one of the most vulnerable areas in all of Asia to cyclones and sea level rise.

Less than five years since a powerful tropical cyclone devastated swathes of India and Bangladesh, Islamic Relief reports on how one Bangladeshi community is looking forward to a greener and more disaster-resilient future.

In 2009,Cyclone Aila destroyed homes and livelihoods in Dakkhin Bedkasi village. It also devastated the environment, which is central to communities in Bangladesh’s remote south-west. Trees were torn up, leaving the landscape completely denuded. People were forced out of their homesteads along the river embankment, and away from their traditional way of life.

By Robert Stefanicki

KHULNA, Bangladesh, Oct 25 2013 (IPS) - It has been four years since Cyclone Aila struck Bangladesh, triggering floods and widespread destruction. But the villagers of Koira subdistrict, among the worst affected of the 11 districts hit by the cyclone, are yet to recover from its impact.

The Jaman family was among the 41,043 families in Koira affected by Aila. Like most of their neighbours, they remained homeless for eight months, surviving on supplies from humanitarian organisations.

SECTOR OVERVIEW

Key messages:

• Assisting the victims of natural disasters, India being highly vulnerable to cyclones, floods, earthquakes and droughts remains a priority. .

• Alleviating the emergency needs arising from three protracted crises:
  Jammu & Kashmir, the North-Eastern States, and Naxal-affected areas in central India, with a special emphasis on protection, health and nutrition remains a must.

Overview

A notable achievement by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS)/ the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was the very first photography exhibition on Red Cross Red Crescent works titled Mindscape held in Dhaka on 8 May 2012 in celebration of World Red Cross Red Crescent day. This event showcased disaster management and rehabilitation works that have been carried out over the years since 1971 war in Bangladesh.