Cyclone SIDR batters Bangladesh; Hundreds Feared Dead

Rescue workers in Bangladesh apprehend that thousands of corpses lay littered in the country’s southern coastline after Cyclone SIDR, one of the worst to hit the low-lying areas in many years. While the cyclone is feared to have killed over 1100 people and ravaged thousands of homes, a million others are reported to have fled the area for safer regions. In fact, the government is finding it difficult to keep track of the dead and the missing.
What is worse is that hundreds of fishermen who had ventured out on the Bay of Bengal for a living have not returned even after the winds and rains subsided. Rescue workers as well as UN officials working to locate and rehabilitate the victims estimated that over 1000 fishing boats are missing with thousands of fishermen in the Bay. On the other hand, farmers across the country are finding themselves in a dismal situation as their lands have been covered with salt water from the sea and destroyed all prospects of initiating cultivation afresh.

The cyclone accompanied by winds blowing at 150 mph and incessant rains, set off tidal waves as high as five meters that flooded the entire expanse in the southern coast of the improvised nation as well as numerous small islands near it. At the same time, the tropical storm that generated from the Bay of Bengal on late Thursday night and continued till Friday, led to extensive power cuts, snapping of telephone lines, road blockades as well as uprooted millions of trees.

Meanwhile, rescue workers from different nations and the UN are struggling to provide shelter for those rendered homeless by Cyclone SIDR. Hundreds to tons of plastic sheets, bamboo and ropes are being rushed to the affected areas construct temporary shelters.

With the winter approaching, blankets also being distributed. In addition, to avoid contamination and diarrhea deaths, water containers and soaps are also being distributed in the area, while the. UN World Food Program is distributing emergency food rations to about 400,000 people over the next three days.

On the other hand, navy ships are scouring the coastal areas for hundreds of people reported missing and to clear river channels jammed with sunken vessels to restore normal navigation. Helicopters also made sorties to the cyclone ravaged areas and dropped food, drinking water and medicine for the survivors.

Source: newslocale.org