Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the crisis
Bangladesh experienced one of its most widespread and prolonged flooding emergencies in recent years, beginning in mid-June 2024 and affecting more than 14 million people1 across the northern, northeastern, and southeastern regions. Heavy monsoon rainfall combined with large scale upstream water inflows from Nepal and India triggered extensive flooding in northern districts, impacting 5.1 million people. In the northeast, torrential rain and continuous upstream inflows from Assam and Meghalaya caused severe inundation across the Haor basin, affecting 3.7 million people. The situation was further strained by a governmental transition in mid July, which disrupted communication, access, and security during the peak of the disaster. By late August, a new wave of flooding hit the southeastern region due to an active monsoon and a low pressure system, affecting 5.8 million people across 11 districts including Feni, Noakhali, Chattogram, Lakshimpur, & Cumilla. According to national authorities, the floods resulted in 71 deaths, stranded 582,155 families, and led to the opening of 4,003 emergency shelters that hosted 540,510 people and 39,531 livestock. The cumulative impact on infrastructure, livelihoods, and essential services was severe. Floods damaged 15,511 km of roads and 1,078 bridges and culverts, cutting off major transportation routes—including sections of the critical Dhaka–Chattogram corridor. Losses to agriculture and food systems were extensive, with 296,852 hectares of cropland destroyed, alongside USD 34 million in livestock losses and USD 121.6 million in fisheries damage. WASH infrastructure suffered heavily, with 321,888 water points and 528,139 latrines damaged, and more than 7,000 schools closed, disrupting education for 175,000+ primary students. These impacts highlight Bangladesh’s structural vulnerability to monsoon flooding—now intensified by climate change, which is increasing rainfall variability, flood severity, and erosion risks for millions of people.
Flood affected districts faced severe humanitarian impacts, as the collapse of water, sanitation, food, shelter, and health systems left families exposed to significant risks. Damage to thousands of water points and sanitation facilities sharply reduced access to safe drinking water, increasing vulnerability to waterborne diseases—particularly among children, older people, and people with disabilities. At the same time, widespread losses of agricultural land, livestock, and markets deepened food insecurity, while extensive shelter destruction forced many families to remain in unsafe or makeshift conditions without materials to rebuild. Health services, especially in remote areas, remained disrupted, restricting access to medical care and intensifying unmet needs. Prolonged displacement and asset loss also placed considerable psychological strain on affected communities, underscoring the need for mental health and psychosocial support.
More than a year after the 2024 floods, affected communities continue to face prolonged recovery barriers due to inadequate reconstruction support, extensive livelihood losses, and damaged local infrastructure. Many families whose homes were destroyed received only short-term relief—such as early food distributions and one-off multipurpose cash grants—leaving them reliant on loans and improvised materials to rebuild makeshift shelters. Persistent waterlogging and rising construction costs further delayed repairs, while submerged or damaged rural roads and essential facilities hindered access to services and markets. Farmers, small traders, fishers, and daily laborers’ remain among the worst affected, struggling to resume income generating activities after widespread crop loss, livestock mortality, and depletion of productive assets. With reconstruction largely self-funded and formal recovery assistance limited, households continue to rely heavily on informal borrowing and sporadic support, resulting in slow, uneven restoration of lives and livelihoods and significant unmet needs persisting across affected areas.