Cyclone Sidr, Bangladesh

Situation Update (November 20, 2007)

Cyclone Sidr, a category 4 storm, struck Bangladesh on the evening of November 15th. The cyclone first hit the offshore islands and then swept across the southern coast east to west reaching wind speeds of up to 240 kilometers per hour. Sidr caused extensive damage to the southern districts as it moved north across central Bangladesh. The full scale of this disaster will become evident as access improves in the coming days.

Presently, more than 3.1 million people in 28 southern districts are known to have been directly affected by the cyclone and associated storms. As of November 19th, reports issued by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB), cite a death toll of 2,408 people, with 1,063 people missing and 1,491 injured. These figures are expected to increase significantly as damage assessments progress.

The GOB estimates that over 273,000 homes were destroyed and another 650,000 houses were damaged.  761,361 acres of crops were destroyed with extensive damage to roads and public buildings, including the destruction or partial destruction of 4,306 educational institutions. The most affected areas include Bagerhat, Barguna, Barisal, Bhola, Gopalgonj, Jhalkhati, Khulna, Mandaripur, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Satkhira and Shariatpur Districts.

The Government of Bangladesh’s early warning and preparedness systems were activated in advance of the cyclone making landfall, which greatly reduced the humanitarian impact of this disaster. Preparedness measures included the evacuation of approximately 3.2 million people and the stockpiling of relief and rescue items.   As of November 20th, army relief and rescue teams have reportedly reached 70% of the affected areas.



DRN-India Response

DRN-India is working with RedR and Oxfam to organize public health engineers and supplies of building material and water treatment systems.  Further actions are pending based on the results of more detailed damage assessments which will continue in the days ahead.  DRN-India is coordinating its response from the office of Hindustan Construction Company LTD in Mumbai. For information about how you can assist, please contact: