Spotlight: Bangladesh Cyclone

14.03.2008 Lack of employment opportunities and the fear of starvation in rural areas in the wake of last year’s cyclone are forcing Bangladeshis to throng cities in search of livelihood. Most do menial jobs as loaders, and rickshaw pullers, earning barely enough to save their families from hunger back home.

20.02.2008 Even after three months of Cyclone Sidr hitting Bangladesh, some 1.3 million affected people are living under plastic sheeting, tarpaulins and other basic shelters exposing them to the approaching monsoon rains. Oxfam says that it is vital that the government and the international community urgently devise a better plan.

04.02.2008 The UN and USAID along with nine other donors have proposed a plan costing US$ 4 billion for post-cyclone reconstruction in Bangladesh. Cyclone Sidr had struck the country in November last year leaving thousands dead and causing huge economic losses.

21.01.2008 Hundreds of thousands of shrimp farmers face uncertainty as some 6,000 shrimp farms and hatcheries in Bangladesh's cyclone-hit southern districts were washed away. The country’s shrimp exports, a major foreign exchange earner, have suffered an estimated loss of US$ 36 million.

10.01.2008 While the Bangladesh cyclone claimed thousands of lives and left millions homeless, there remain large parts of the population who have gone missing. Bangladesh Red Crescent is now working on a database of those missing, mostly women and children, to help link them up with their loved ones.

19.12.2007 Bangladesh government had sought almost US$ 2 billion in aid from the international community to rehabilitate people affected by the cyclone. The country is in urgent need of assistance if it has to recover from devastation.

13.12.2007 Thousands of kilometers of protective embankments and dykes in Bangladesh’s southern coastal belt had been left severely damaged by the cyclone that hit the country in mid-November. People now face a risk of hunger if these protective walls are not repaired.

04.12.2007 UNICEF, in collaboration with Save the Children International Alliance, has already built 27 day-care centres in eight cyclone-affected districts of Bangladesh. It plans to build 380 more safe spaces in next few weeks to assist 20,000 child victims to help them recover from the calamity.

29.11.2007 Meet survivors Lisa and Resma in a photo essay by UNICEF – two nine-year olds in Barisal district, who are working hard with their families to recover what they lost in the devastating storm.

26.11.2007 Even while 3,000 and more people were killed by the deadly storm, local volunteers shouting warnings about the impending cyclone on loudspeakers saved thousands of lives in Bangladesh. This simple, inexpensive and effective warning model is now inspiring policymakers in developing countries.

26.11.2007 The fatal cyclone of November 15 has seriously affected seven out of the nine working districts of the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), while completely destroying one of its Rural Knowledge Centres.

23.11.2007 The World Bank has announced $250 million in aid for the recovery and rehabilitation of millions of Bangladeshis affected by Cyclone Sidr. Part of the funds will also be used to strengthen the country’s disaster mitigation systems.

22.11.2007 The international community has responded to the Bangladesh cyclone, pledging over US$ 120 million in monetary aid and relief material. The European Commission's humanitarian field experts report that 280,000 homes have been swept away and people are living in the rubble left behind.

21.11.2007 Aid agencies have put the total death count at over 5,000 – more than half being children – four days after Cyclone Sidr wrecked Bangladesh’s southern coast. An estimated 400,000 children under the age of five have been affected by the fatal storm in Bangladesh, with many drowning or being injured by falling trees.

19.11.2007 Barely a village has been left untouched by the Cyclone Sidr in south-western Bangladesh. As tolls mount over two thousand, it is seen that the poor have been hit hardest by the storm.

16.11.2007 Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated as a powerful cyclone battered southern Bangladesh on November 16. Over two hundred have been reported dead, while officials warn of a rise in death toll.