Bangladesh - Rainstorms and Floods OCHA Situation Report No. 2

Ref: OCHA/GVA - 2000/0122
OCHA Situation Report No. 2
Bangladesh - Storms and Floods
29 June 2000

Situation and Damage

1. Two tornadoes hit Bangladesh on the 25 June 2000. The first whipped through 13 villages in the Gournadi district at mid-day, whereas the second hit 3 villages of the district of Ullapara during the night. According to the Office of the UN Resident Co-ordinator in Dhaka, no official damage report from the Bangladeshi Government is available so far. However, the media reports that the first tornado injured 30 people and damaged about 300 houses, 6 educational institutions and one post office, while the second tornado injured 7 people and damaged about 200 houses.

2. Torrential rains produced flash floods in the city of Chittagong and in the neighbouring areas of Cowkbazar, Mirzapool, Katalganj, Rahmatganj, Chaktai, Halishahr, Bakalia, Chandgaon, Pahartoli, Hathazari, Patiya, Satkania and Keranirhat on 24 June 2000. In Chittagong city, the rains caused a landslide in the Chittagong University area and the collapse of a wall in the Muradpur area. According to the media 11 people were killed.

3. The Flood Forecast and Warning Centre of the Water Development Board reported that water levels in the "Brahmaputra-Jamuna" river system registered a rise at all points except at the Siraijganj station. The Padma also registered rise at all points. The rivers in the Meghna basin rose at some points and fell at others, and the Surma is flowing above danger level at Kanaighat and Sunamganj. Out of 46 water-level measuring stations monitored by this Centre, 28 points recorded a rise, though only in two of these cases had water risen above danger level. Due to the sharp recession of most of the rivers in the South Eastern Hill basin, the rainfed flash flood situation is expected to improve considerably in this region.

National and International Response

4. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is in close contact with the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka and will revert with further information if the situation warrants it.

5. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int

Telephone: +41-22-917 12 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers: Ms. S. Metzner-Strack / Mr. R. Mueller / Mr. S. Matsuka, Direct Tel. +41-22-917 21 44 / 31 31 / 40 34

Press contact: (in GVA) Mr. Donato Kiniger-Passigli, direct Tel. +41-22-917 26 53 - (in N.Y.) Ms. Phyllis Lee, direct Tel. +1-212-963 48 32