Crops, hundreds of houses damaged; embankments crack
The depression over the Bay made landfall between the southwestern districts of Bangladesh and West Bengal, triggering tidal surge that destroyed homes and crops, damaged dams and disrupted communication in the wee hours yesterday.
Large areas of the coastal districts, including chars, were flooded by the surge as high as six feet and fish enclosures washed away.
All fishing boats and trawlers in the North Bay have been advised to remain in a safe place until further notice.
Our Patuakhali correspondent said double-decker launch Achol-6, allegedly with 2,000 people on board, got beached near Bakherganj upazila due to the tidal surge. Yesterday, another launch Achol-5 went to its rescue but failed to get the vessel back on water. It, however, could rescue the passengers of Achol-6 around 3:00pm.
Mostafizur Rahman, deputy director of BIWTA in Patuakhali, said they suspended movement of all single-decker launches in all 20 internal routes of the district yesterday.
Vast areas of all seven upazilas of the district got flooded by the tidal surge.
All ferry terminals in the district went under water disrupting road communication. Pontoons of Lebukhali, Kalapara, Mohipur, and Hazipur ferry terminals on Kuakata-Dhaka Road, Boga ferry terminal on Patuakhali-Baufal Road, Galachipa ferry terminal on Patuakhali-Galachipa Road, Parakunjo ferry terminal on Patuakhali-Mirzaganj Road also went under water.
Over 50 chars under Patuakhali, Kalapara, Mirzaganj, Galachipa, Dasmina, Baufal, and Dumki upazilas went under 4-5 feet deep water.
Flood-control dams in different places under Mirzaganj and Kalapara upazila were damaged. A sluice gate of Nilganj area of Kalapara upazila was destroyed and two villages–Sultanganj and Nilganj–were inundated, said an official of Kalapara Water Development Board.
Two-thirds of the district town itself went under water. Torrential rain continued to paralyze life there.
Fishes worth over Tk 1.5 crore was lost as many enclosures was washed away by the surge, sources in the District Fisheries Office said.
In Barguna, strong current damaged a portion of the 15km dam of the Water Development Board in Amtoli upazila. The gushing water flooded crop fields and inundated houses. High winds uprooted electric poles and trees, disrupting utility services.
In Sharankhola of Bagerhat, many people were marooned as the tidal surge devastated the area. More than 100 homes were washed away and at least 30 under-construction houses for the Sidr victims were damaged.
In Pirojpur, a dam on the Baleshwar in Zia Nagar upazila was breached by the tidal surge and it inundated low-lying areas, including Khol Southkhali, Patua and Balipara.
The tidal surge also flooded Mathbaria Bazar, Majherchar and Sapleja area in Mathbaria upazila and Beeldumuria, Panakhali and Sathia in Nazimpur upazila of the district.
In Cox’s Bazar, low-lying areas of Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf, Moheshkhali and Kutubdia also went under 3-4 feet water.
Our Chittagong correspondent reports: Halishahar, Agrabad and coastal areas of Patenga were waterlogged after the 2-4 feet higher-then-usual tidal surge.
Five fishing trawlers sank in the Meghna in the tidal surge and bad weather in Telirchar area of Ramgati upazila Friday afternoon, UNB reports.
Locals said the surge was 3-4 feet high. Belal Hossain, chairman of Char Abdullapur union, said heavy rain damaged 10-15 houses in Telirchar and inundated many char areas leaving 15,000 people marooned.
Our correspondent Manikganj said ferry service on Patuari-Dauladia route resumed at 9:30am yesterday after a 12-hour disruption due to stormy weather.
Hundreds of vehicles including buses were seen waiting on both sides of the Padma.
According to a special bulletin from the Met office, the depression over southwestern part of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal moved slightly north-northwestwards, weakened into a land depression and was still hovering over the Ganges delta area of West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh.
It is likely to move in land further in a north-northwesterly direction and gradually weaken, said the Bulletin.
Squally weather may continue near maritime ports and coastal areas of Bangladesh and it is likely to improve later today, said an official of the Met office.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
