Weekend-5-8

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Seven community radio stations
in the coastal region of the country
were continuously broadcasting
weather updates and tips to
prepare for the storm. A total of 30
broadcasters and volunteers in the
radio stations are working on these
weather updates.
More than 50,000 Cyclone
Preparedness Program volunteers
were mobilised to support
evacuation and early warning efforts.
This action – which was essential in
saving lives – was buttressed by the
American Red Cross’s investment in
the country’s short-wave radio and
community warning system.
Meanwhile, the day before
the cyclone made landfall, the
Bangladesh Red Crescent distributed
cash grants to more than 2,500
households to help them prepare
for or respond to the storm. The
grants of Tk5,000 (approximately
USD 67) were distributed through the
Red Cross Red Crescent’s ‘Forecastbased-financing’
mechanism.
“Because of our ministry as
well as of several NGO disaster
management programs, we had been
able to make the people of coastal
areas aware of the importance of
leaving evacuating before a looming
disaster. In the past, people were
reluctant to leave their belongings
behind, but now they are not,” he
said.
Mostafa said, a total of 4.68 lakh
people took shelter in different
cyclone and safe centres during the
cyclone. “Managing such a large
number of people taking refuge in
the cyclone shelters was of course an
achievement for all of us,” he said.
The challenges ahead
It is one thing to evacuate people
and another thing to make sure that
the home they have evacuated is
going be re-erected. Post disaster
recovery is the hardest part in
disaster management as the issues
of reconstructing the infrastructure
as well as the lives of the affected
people come to the forefront then.
While Bangladesh made
significant improvement in pre and
during disaster management, it still
lags in post disaster management.
This is because post disaster
management is relatively easier for a
country with stronger economy, but
for Bangladesh, whose economy is
burdened with a huge population,
the task is not obviously easy.
Cylcone Mora has affected as
many as 286,000 people in 16 coastal
districts. These people have lost their
homes and a significant part of their
belongings. Thousands of people are
still living under the open sky.
Besides, of particular concern is
the plight of thousands of migrants
who recently arrived in the district
of Cox’s Bazar from Rakhine State
in neighbouring Myanmar. Virtually
all of this population is dependent
on emergency humanitarian aid for
their daily subsistence.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said
in parliament that her government
has already taken efforts to rebuild
damaged houses and establishments.
It is one thing to evacuate people and another
thing to make sure that the home they have
evacuated is going be re-erected
She also said that the damaged
embankments would be repaired in
the same way.
“Food and cash are being
distributed to affected people. The
Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry
of Disaster Management and
Relief, administration and local
governments are working together
to conduct relief and rehabilitation
work,” she said.
Disaster management expert
Shagar Hasnat, who has been
volunteering in the coastal regions
with several organisations, said
that the government, at the policymaking
level, is making the right
moves to tackle the post disaster
recovery. “But at the field level,
things are not as smooth as some
statistics. There are lots of issues
involved.”
“The size of cyclones and their
impacts matter less in post disaster
management. There are academic
studies which show that survivors
of Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh face
a longer recovery period than those
of Cyclone Sidr, a much larger storm
with significantly higher disaster
effects.”
Despite the government claims
that many have since returned
to their homes, in reality, tens
of thousands continue to live in
makeshift houses along roadsides
and embankments even though a
week has passed. Their prospects
for resuming local livelihoods –
critical in the recovery process – are
particularly bleak.
“At least two consecutive crop
seasons will be lost due to the lack
of cultivable land and fresh water.
Adding to their troubles will be the
monsoon rains which will take place
in the next few months.”
“I believe Bangladesh still has
some distance to cover in achieving
post-disaster management success.
I would say good governance would
take us there in the quickest possible
time,” said Hasnat.•
Major cyclones
- In 1970, the Cyclone Bhola caused about 500,000 deaths in
Bangladesh’s coastline. On April 29, 1991, a powerful cyclone struck
the coastal area of Bangladesh with wind speed of around 250 km/h.
The storm killed at least 138,000 people leaving as many as 10 million
homeless.
- On November 15, 2007, Cyclone Sidr hit the coastal area of the
country, affecting approximately 8.5 million women, men and children
and killing around 4,000 people. One and a half million homes were
partially or completely destroyed, around 1.2 million livestock were
killed and 2.4 million acres of crops were ruined. The overall economic
losses amounted to USD 1.7 billion.
- On May 25, 2009, the cyclonic storm, Aila, hit the southwestern
part (Khulna Division), killing approximately 190 people. Several
hundred thousand homes were washed away when wind-driven tidal
surges up to 3 metres devastated the coastal belt. Cyclone Aila hit
14 districts in the south, affecting a population of around 3.7 million
people. The cultivated land damaged in the area was around 96,617
hectares and the loss in the production amounted to around 482,144
megatonnes worth Tk6,776 million (around USD 99 million).
WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017