Bangladesh's Haunting Floods

Climate change is causing more frequent deviations and fluctuations in weather, such as an increase in storms or droughts, and is predicted to affect weather conditions adversely throughout the globe. A place like Cockermouth in Britain, which suffered some of the worst floods in a century last year, are now experiencing near record-low river levels.

Amongst the 12 countries list by World Bank as most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate extremes are: Bangladesh which is most susceptible to floods, Malawi to droughts, the Philippines to storms, and low lying island states like Vietnam, to rising sea levels.

Bangladesh is well known as being the world’s most flood-prone country, with monsoon floods and cyclones being almost an annual event; and severe flooding occurring every four to five years. Annual floods have wreaked havoc in Bangladesh throughout history.

During the last 50 years, at least 7 mega floods have occurred, affecting about 35-75% of the land area. Major flooding recorded in recent years occurred in 1987, 1988, and 1998, 2004 and 2007. A historical overview of floods since 1954 indicates that the frequency, magnitude, and duration of floods have increased substantially, probably due to climate change.

For example, all major floods covering more than 30% of the country occurred after 1974. Four floods of such great magnitude (1974, 1987, 1988, and 1998) took place during the last 25 years, averaging one in every 6 years.

There are many causes:

Bangladesh is a country that straddles the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, the flood plain formed by four major rivers in the world: the Brahmaputra, Meghna, Ganges and Wang Rivers. The first three rivers converge into Bangladesh, creating the world's largest river delta, crisscrossed by a labyrinth of rivers, and empty out onto the Bay of Bengal, a place prone to bear the wrath of nature in the form of cyclones and floods.

It is a very low lying country, with 70% of its land area merely 1 - 2 m above sea level.

Bangladesh has a monsoon climate that brings torrential rain, and the volume of the annual torrential downpours often exceed the river capacity.

Thawing snow from the Himalayas in springtime further increases the flood risks as torrents of melt water enter the rivers at their source. Thaw process is further accelerated by global warming, thereby exacerbated the excess river discharge.

The annual floods are also caused by the deforestation of the upstream regions in India and Nepal. Indeed deforestation in the headwaters has increased soil erosion, resulting in large amount of silt deposition at the river bed, reducing its channel capacity and increasing the likelihood of flooding.

Causes of Flooding in Bangladesh: Geobytesgcse.blogspot

Floods also arise due to increased rainfall, sea level rise as a result of global warming. These floods have, in history, seriously affected the economy, agriculture, water & food security, human health, population displacement and shelter in Bangladesh. It is believed that in the coming decades the rising sea level alone will create more than 25 million climate refugees.

Moreover, with the dense population and increase in non-farm activities than brings in increased coastal settlement, such as culture fisheries, poultry farming, livestock husbandry, establishment of small and medium-size industries in the floodplains, Bangladesh is now widely recognized to be one of the countries most vulnerable, and least adaptive to effects of climate change.

Timeline of the More Recent Mega Floods of Bangladesh:

1974
Death 28 000
1987
Death 1 600, but a high Government official dealing with the floods said the figure was closer to 5 000. President H. M. Ershad called it the severest flood the nation has seen in 70 years in terms of the area hit, the number of people ( 10 million ) affected and displaced. The official estimate of damage is $1.5 billion.
1988 Mega flood
5 000 deaths. 1.25 million houses destroyed, 8 million people homeless, 45 million people directly affected. Total flood damage was estimated at US$ 2.2 billion
1998 Mega flood
In September 1998, Bangladesh saw the most devastating flooding in modern world history. 300 000 houses, 9 700 km of road, 2 700 km of embankment, 700 000 hectares of crop land have been damaged or destroyed. Two-thirds of the country was underwater. Death toll was 1 000 and 31 million made homeless, 135 000 cattle killed, damage was estimated to be US$ 2.8 billion. There were several reasons for the severity of the flooding. Firstly, there were unusually high monsoon rains. Secondly, the Himalayas shed off an equally unusually high amount of melt water that year. Trees that usually intercept rain water were cut down for firewood or for husbandry.
2004 Mega flood
Floods during April knocked out over 80 per cent of the rice crop in certain areas of Bangladesh. Sporadic flooding began in May. A second set of floods in July wiped out household food stocks and removed other sources of nutrition and income such as livestock rearing and agricultural day labor. This river flooding with the normal pattern of slow rising water levels along the main river systems soon changed with a sudden increase in water levels causing flash flooding and rapid flows in major rivers. Torrential downpours in September again led to localized flooding. Flood water remained standing for up to three months in some areas. 39 of the 64 districts of the country were affected, including Dhaka city. More than 30 million people were affected directly . Over 4 million houses were damaged and 4 million people displaced. Total death toll was 747. The mega flood in 2004 caused a damage estimated to be about US$ 2.2 billion. A UN inter-agency flash appeal (FA) for US$210 million was launched.
2007
The flood of 2007 has been observed as unusual in character, hitting the country with two peaks. The mountain torrents and monsoon downpours caused the three major rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna to swell and overspill into towns and villages across the country. Heavy runoff from the upstream catchment boundary with India aggravated the disaster, denoting the need of co-operation and co-ordination between co-riparian countries. During this monsoon, the country experienced various types of flood sporadically in different places. According to government statistics, a total of more than 10 million people were badly affected, a million homes were damaged while 36 000 km of roads and 8 000 km of river embankments were also ruined. The floods have claimed more than 500 lives, and around 53 000 people have contracted diarrhea, dysentery, cholera and other water-borne diseases. There is a serious shortage of food and drinking water. A preliminary estimate by the Department of Agricultural Extension estimates the floods to have damaged crops worth about US$286 million in the 39 flood-hit districts out of the country's 64 districts. The damaged crops include rice, jute, vegetable and spices on around 469,000 hectares of land. The floods have also caused enormous damage to fisheries.

Besides flooding, the people of Bangladesh are also repeatedly confronted by other natural and human-made catastrophes such as surface and groundwater pollution, droughts, cyclones, riverbank erosion, air pollution, wetland loss, tornadoes, earthquakes, and coastal erosion.

''Flood in Bangladesh can't be controlled even with all the resources of the world put together,'' President Ershad told the press. ''Even partial protection requires a lot of money, and Bangladesh is a poor country.''

Pakistan, on the other neighboring side of India, is equally vulnerable to damaging torrential floods. Socio-economic impacts and losses from floods constitute major sufferings due to natural hazards. During the last fifty years, the total socio-economic losses in Pakistan attributable to floods are approximately USD 6 billion, with more than 7 200 life claimed. Heaviest direct flood damages occur to infrastructure, agricultural crops, properties and public utilities.

With the support of the UN, WHO, UNICEF, International Red Cross, NGOs and other international organizations, efforts have been made to appeal for international relief funds, medical and food reliefs to meet the immediate needs and lessen the sufferings of these perpetually flood-stricken populations, on a short term basis.

On a long term basis, the Bangladesh and Pakistan governments urgently need adaptation funds from world organizations to assist efforts in mitigating the impacts of climate change. The outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December 2009 is of great concern to the world and to nations most vulnerable and most exposed to the wrath of nature, aggravated by global warming. The future of the world relies on the global agreement reached to mitigate climate change, and to reduce the impacts of climate extremes like floods and droughts.

References and related news:

Flood Forecasting and Warning Center Bangladesh
Live above the Flood: BBC July 2009
UN Flash Appeal Bangladesh Floods 2004
Causes of Flooding in Bangladesh: Geobytesgcse.blogspot
Floods in Bangladesh: Changes in Monsoon Pattern: se2.isn.ch
Bangladesh Flood Timeline: Google.com

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