Staff Reporter :Flash flood resulted from extremely intense rainfall and storm surge led to disaster for the people living in the country’s costal areas. Heavy rainfall coupled with surge during the latest cyclonic storm Roanu caused flash flood washing away dams and embankments that remained fragile over the years, wrecking havoc to the costal people.Admitting the matter, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, the Disaster Management and Relief Minister, on Sunday said that damage of dams and embankments by storm surge caused the losses of lives and properties in cyclone Roanu.He said this while speaking at the ‘District Disaster Management Meeting’ in Chittagong. Chittagong, one of the coastal districts, was ravaged badly by the Roanu, leaving 13 deaths caused by drowning or homes collapsing during the storm. The storm surge entered into the vast areas of Sandwip, Banshkhali, Anwara and Sitakunda upazilas under the district after the damage of dams affecting more than 250,000 people. Maya said the courage of the people in the district, the government’s preparedness, and efforts by the Fire Service and the volunteers could minimise the damage of the storm to a certain degree. “But fragile dams let the storm surge to enter the villages leaving the people dead. The lives, crops, livestock, farms, houses would not have been lost if these dams were been built properly,” he said.He, however, said that the damage was not as high as we had feared. The meeting said that thousands of people have been stranded in flood waters in Cox’s Bazar, Patuakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Barguna, Chandpur, Jhalokathi, Bagerhat and Bhola.Engr Mosharraf Hossain, Minister for Housing and Public Works, also present at the meeting.Meanwhile, people who fled their homes for cyclone Roanu on Monday started returning to their wind-battered village homes, urging authorities to arrange essential relief materials for them.The strong cyclonic storm weakened Saturday afternoon after lashing into Bangladesh’s coastal districts, flooding villages, triggering landslides, leaving at least 24 people dead and affecting thousands.It also damaged nearly 85,000 homes, as water submerged houses, cut off roads, destroyed embankments and crops and uprooted trees.”About 100,000 people returned to their damaged and flooded homes Monday. Thousands are still staying in cyclone shelters as their homes were submerged by flood water,” Jahir Uddin, Vice-chairman of Moheshkhali Upazila Parishad, told The New Nation on Monday.Moheshkhali is an Island off the coast of Cox’s Bazar.Jahir Uddin said people of Moheshkhali are badly affected by the cyclone Roanu and they urgently need shelter, clean water, foods, sanitation and other essential relief items.An estimated half-million people of the costal districts fled their homes for cyclone shelters following warnings from the authorities.
