A Bangladeshi army soldier distributes relief material to flood affected people in Sylhet, Bangladesh on June 22, 2022. A DHAKA GUWAHATI official said on Thursday that authorities in Bangladesh are bracing for the spread of water-borne diseases and are trying to get drinking water to people stranded in their homes due to flooding across a quarter of the country.
Nearly 2,000 rescue teams were trying to reach flood victims in 17 of the country's 64 districts and get them water and other supplies, said Atiqul Haque, director general of the Department of Disaster Management.
There is a possibility of an epidemic with the receding of the flood waters. If clean water is not ensured soon, we fear the outbreak of water-borne diseases. Accessibility of drinking water is our top priority. Director General of the Department of Disaster Management, Atiqul Haque.
There is a possibility that an epidemic will occur with the receding of the flood waters. Haque said we fear water-borne diseases will cause an outbreak of water-borne diseases if clean water is not provided soon.
Our priority is to make sure drinking water is available. More than 4.5 million people have been stranded and 42 people have been killed in the worst flooding in the Sylhet region of northeastern Minnesota in more than 100 years.
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The floods damaged 75,000 hectares of paddy and 300,000 hectares of other crops, including maize, jute and vegetables, agriculture ministry official Humayun Kabir said.
The destruction is huge. More crops could be damaged as new areas are being flooded. Fatema Begum, mother of three in the worst-hit Sunamganj district, said the floods had washed away everything.
She said that there was not even a trace of her small thatched hut. We don't have a second pair of clothes. No one came to help. On June 22, 2022, a house is surrounded by flood waters in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The monsoon brings heavy rain and floods to South Asia between June and October, especially in low-lying areas like Bangladesh, where rivers swollen with waters pouring out of the Himalayas often burst their banks.
Extreme weather has become more frequent and environmentalists warn that climate change could lead to ever more serious disasters.
In the eastern Indian state of Assam, which was badly hit by the rain that lashed the region, Indian air force helicopters were deployed on Thursday to drop food and other supplies to cut-off communities.
READ MORE: Millions stranded as floods ravage parts of Bangladesh, India
More than 280,000 people were stranded in Silchar town, most of which were underwater, district official Keerthi Jalli told Reuters.
We have never seen such a devastation before in our lifetime. The water was up to my chest, Silchar teacher Monowar Barbhuyan told Reuters.