Heavy Rainfall
Fear of flood looms over Sirajganj as Jamuna keeps swelling
Low-lying areas of five upazilas in Sirajganj district have been inundated due to the heavy rainfall and onrush of water from the upstream — posing risk of flooding many areas.
Ranjit Kumar Sarkar, sub-divisional engineer of Sirajganj Water Development Board, said the low-lying areas along the bank of the Jamuna River including Shahzadpur, Belkuchi, Kazipur, Chouhali and Sadar upazilas of the district have been flooded following the rise in river water.
The water level of Jamuna increased by 39 cm, though it was flowing below the danger level on Friday, but it may rise further in the next 4-5 days due to the incessant rainfall, he said.
Floodwaters kill 31 in India's Himalayan northeast after lake bursts through major dam
Erosion along the river banks area has taken a serious turn already, and if the situation continues, more areas will be flooded, he added.
Meanwhile, daily life of people in the district has been disrupted due to the torrential rainfall for the last couple of days.
Flash floods kill at least 14 in northeastern India and leave more than 100 missing
Day labourers are facing the worst, as they failed to secure work, while most locals avoided outdoor activities due to the rain.
According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC), as of Friday, the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Ganges-Padma rivers are in a rising trend, which may continue over the next 72 hours.
Study finds more people are moving into high flood zones, increasing risk of water disasters
Heavy rains may trigger short-term flood in Sylhet, Sunamganj
North-Eastern and adjoining upstream region of the country may experience short-term flood due to heavy rainfall in 48 hours since Sunday (July 02, 2023) morning, said a bulletin of Flood Forecasting and Warning Center of the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
Some rivers of this region including Surma, Old Surma, Sarigowain, Khowai, Jadukata, Someswari, Bhogai-Kangsha may rise rapidly and cause short-term flood in the adjoining low-lying areas as there is a chance of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the region during the period, it said.
The Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Padma rivers are in steady state, while the Ganges River is in rising trend, which may continue in next 48 hours.
Read: Flood crisis grips Kurigram: thousands trapped, shortage of food-water intensifies
All the major rivers in the North-Eastern region of the country are in rising trend.
Due to the chance of heavy rainfall in the adjoining upstream, the Teesta, the Dharala and the Dudhkumar rivers in the Northern region may rise rapidly at times in the next 48 hours.
Teesta river may cross danger level at Dalia point in the next 24 hours, said FFWC.
Read: Flash flood inundates Haor areas in Kishoreganj, ferry services suspended
Last year, the residents of Sylhet district experienced a devastating flood as 70 percent of the district went under floodwater while 10,000 dwelling houses were damaged, causing immense sufferings to thousands of people.
Read more: Onrush of upstream water, rain trigger flood in Kurigram
Floods from heavy rainfall kill at least 129 in Rwanda
Torrential rains caused flooding in western and northern Rwanda, killing at least 129 people, a public broadcaster said Wednesday.
The death toll “continues to rise,” the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency said Wednesday.
“This could be the highest disaster-induced death toll to be recorded in the country in the shortest period, according to available records from recent years,” the government-backed New Times newspaper reported.
Also read: Turkey floods kill 10 in earthquake-affected provinces
Francois Habitegeko, governor of Rwanda’s Western province, told reporters that a search for more victims was underway following heavy rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Strong rainstorms started last week, causing flooding and mudslides that swept away several houses across the country and left some roads inaccessible.
The Rwanda Meteorology Agency has warned that more rain is coming.
The government has in the past asked residents living in wetlands and other dangerous areas to relocate.
The western and northern provinces and Kigali, the capital, are particularly hilly, making them vulnerable to landslides during the rainy season.
The Ministry of Emergency Management reported last month that from January to April 20, weather-related disasters killed 60 people, destroyed more than 1,205 houses and damaged 2,000 hectares (around 5,000 acres) of land across Rwanda.
Parts of East Africa, including Uganda’s southwest, also are seeing heavy rainfall.
At least three people drowned in floods last week after a river burst its banks in the remote Ugandan district of Rukungiri.
Cyclone Sitrang: Over 20,000 marooned in Bhola
The low-lying areas of Bhola district have been inundated due to tidal surges and heavy rainfall, caused by cyclone Sitrang, rendering over 20,000 people marooned.
The affected people of the areas have been asked to take shelter in cyclone centres, said Bhola district relief and rehabilitation official Delwar Hossain.
He said adequate dry foods have been prepared for the people in shelters. "Besides, 25 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 5 lakh have been allotted."
Read Fisherman goes missing as trawler capsizes at Mongla port, 21 rescued
Meanwhile Bhola deputy commissioner Md Towfiq Elahi Chowdhury said a total of 746 cyclone centres were kept ready to face the disaster. "Eight control rooms have been opened in seven upazilas."
Besides, 13,660 volunteers as well as 76 medical teams are working at the field level.
"Coast Guard rescue teams are also ready to deal with any post-disaster situation," said Lt Kazi Al Amin, media officer of BCG East Zone.
Read 110 evacuated from isolated char in Bhola ahead of Sitrang landfall
On Monday (October 24, 2022), Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) evacuated 110 people from Char Patila, an isolated island of Bhola. They were stranded in the middle of adverse weather conditions accompanying cyclone Sitrang.
Khulna records 146 mm rainfall in 24 hrs, highest in 6 yrs
Khulna on Thursday recorded its highest rainfall in six years, after the district received 146 mm of rainfall in 24 hours till morning, according to the local weather office.
The district recorded the highest rainfall in six years triggered by the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal in 24 hours till 6am on Thursday, said Md Amirul Azad, assistant meteorologist of Khulna Meteorological Office.
Read: Bangladesh: Showers to continue, no respite in sight
The low-lying areas of the district, including Nirala, Mujgunni, Boyra and Prantika, went under water following incessant rains, causing immense sufferings to the SSC examinees. The exams began this morning.
Heavy rainfall likely in 24 hours in 8 divs
Bangladesh Metrological Department predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in eight divisions of the country in the next 24 hours commencing at 12 noon on Wednesday.
Read: Frequent rains, commute woes in Dhaka every morning
Under the influence of active monsoon heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at places over Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram, Dhaka, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Rangpur divisions.
Heavy rain damages ready-to-havest paddy in fields in Kurigram
Heavy summer rains pouring since Friday morning inundated parts of Kurigram district damaging ready-to-harvest paddy crops in fields the district.
The local Met office recorded 126 mm of rain in five hours this morning.
As a result, Boro crops on hundreds of bighas of land got inundated.
According to the Kurigram Agriculture Extension Department, Boro has been planted in 1 lakh 16 thousand hectares of land in the district this year.
Read: Rivers in Sylhet and Sunamganj in spate after heavy rains
Shahidul Islam, a farmer from Kanchichar area of Sadar's Panchgachhi union, said, he cultivated boro paddy on 2 bighas of land." The yield was also very good and the paddy is ripe. But half of his paddy land has been submerged in rainwater, he added.
Sabur Hossain, officer-in-charge of Rajarhat Meteorological Observatory in Kurigram, said 126 mm of rainfall was recorded in Kurigram on Friday morning.
The Met office forecast heavy rain with gusty winds in different parts of Rangpur division in the next 24 hours.
End/UNB/Corr/SIS/F 2317
Heavy rainfall warning for Khulna, Ctg & Barishal
The current spell of pleasant weather in Bangladesh is likely to continue, as the weatherman has predicted heavy showers in three divisions in the next 24 hours.
In fact, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) on Tuesday issued the heavy rainfall warning for three divisions as severe cyclonic storm ‘Asani’ over the west central Bay and adjoining areas moved west-northwestwards.
Also read: Heavy rainfall in Patuakhali due to Asani
“Moderately heavy (23-43mm) to very heavy (88mm or more) rainfall is likely to occur at places over Khulna, Chattogram and Barishal divisions during the next 24 hours," the BMD said in its weather bulletin.
Also read:Cyclone Asani: Five coastal districts on alert
Death toll passes 150 in Nepal and India floods
More than 150 people have died after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods in two Indian states - Uttarakahand and Kerala - and parts of Nepal.
Homes were submerged or crushed by rocks swept into them by landslides, reports BBC.
At least 50 people, including five from a single family, died in Uttarakhand some 77 people died in Nepal, with dozens more missing in both nations.
Read: Floods, landslides kill at least 28 people in southern India
Rains further south in India's Kerala state also triggered deadly floods, leaving another 39 dead there.
Six more bodies were recovered on Wednesday in Uttarakhand, taking the death toll in the Himalayan state, a popular tourist spot, to 52.
Schools have been closed and religious and tourist activities suspended in the state.
The Ganges burst its bank in Rishikesh and the popular Nainital region was severely affected.
Uttarakhand, which normally sees up to 30.5mm (1.2in) of rain for the whole of October, recorded 328mm in a 24-hour period this week.
But the Indian Meteorological Department says the rainfall is now easing.
Rainfall in Nepal may not be so quick to ease.
The worst-affected areas are Panchthar district in east Nepal, and Ilam and Doti in west Nepal.
Read: 21 dead in India floods & landslides
Ida collapses Mississippi road; kills 2, injures at least 10
Barbara Cochran said she was about to get ready for bed late Monday when she heard a loud crash outside her home in rural southeastern Mississippi. Hurricane Ida had been dumping torrential rain, her husband was already asleep and the home’s air conditioner was humming loudly.
The 83-year-old retired educator said she went onto the porch to see if a big oak tree had fallen, or if an 18-wheeler had slid off the highway down the hill from their home. She didn’t see car lights, so she didn’t think there was a wreck.
About 10 minutes after she went back inside, she heard a second loud crash. Moments later, Cochran heard a third crash. As she was about to call the sheriff’s department, she heard the wail of sirens.
And, she said: “I heard something that sounded like a woman screaming.”
Two people were killed and at least 10 others were injured late Monday when seven vehicles plunged, one after another, into a deep hole where a dark, rural highway collapsed as Hurricane Ida blew through Mississippi, authorities said Tuesday.
Read: Thousands face weeks without power in Ida’s aftermath
Heavy rainfall may have caused the collapse of two-lane Mississippi Highway 26 west of Lucedale, and the drivers may not have seen that the roadway in front of them had disappeared, Mississippi Highway Patrol Cpl. Cal Robertson said. The George County Sheriff’s Department received the first call at about 10:30 p.m.
Cochran told The Associated Press that she didn’t know about the highway collapse or the wrecks until after she woke from a fitful night’s sleep. She said she is praying for the families of those killed or hurt.
“This is such a catastrophe,” Cochran said Tuesday.
Robertson said some of the vehicles ended up stacked on top of each other as they crashed into the abyss, which opened up in a rural area without street lights. Ida dumped as much as 13 inches (33 centimeters) of rain as it blew through Mississippi, the National Weather Service said.
“You can imagine driving at night with heavy rain coming down,” Robertson said. “It’s just nothing but a wall of water, your headlights kind of reflecting back on you.”
State troopers, emergency workers and rescue teams responded to the crash site about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Biloxi, to find both the east and westbound lanes collapsed. Robertson said the hole removed about 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 meters) of roadway, and is 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) deep.
George County Sheriff Keith Havard told the Sun Herald that the sheriff’s department received a 911 call from a man whose car had plunged into the hole.
“He said he was driving and all of a sudden he wasn’t driving anymore,” Havard said. “He didn’t understand what had happened. I can’t imagine anyone would.”
The newspaper reported that 911 dispatchers heard other vehicles crash into the pit.
Read: Hurricane Ida traps Louisianans, shatters the power grid
The vehicles were later lifted out by a crane, leaving some debris at the bottom of the hole. A drone video published by the Sun Herald showed how a raised berm beneath the road washed away, leaving a red-clay scar that runs for hundreds of feet, from a cemetery on one side into a wooded area on the other.
“It is a slide, which means the ground under the roadway and embankment was super-saturated and we can tell right now that’s what caused the slide,” Kelly Castleberry, district engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, told the newspaper.
Jerry Lee, 49, of Lucedale, was pronounced dead at 1:20 a.m., and Kent Brown, 49, of Leakesville, was pronounced dead 10 minutes later, George County Coroner DeeAnn Murrah said.
George County High School said one of its students, a senior, was hospitalized with critical injuries after crashing into the hole. Local schools were closed Tuesday because the collapsed highway created problems for buses and other traffic.
Mississippi southern district Transportation Commissioner Tom King said he didn’t know anything unusual about the soil conditions where the highway caved in.
“We just got bombarded here in south Mississippi with rain,” King told the AP.
King said work crews were checking other highways in areas that received heavy rain from Ida.
Read: Ida downs New Orleans power on deadly path through Louisiana
Between 3,100 and 5,700 vehicles drive along the stretch of highway on an average day, according to Mississippi Department of Transportation data.
“It’s going to take us a while to redo it and make it right again and make it safe for folks to go over,” King said of the collapsed roadbed.
Mike Dillon is pastor of Crossroads United Pentecostal Church, which is near the crash site. He said he learned about the crashes after he woke up Tuesday and checked a community prayer page online. Like many local residents, he walked to the crash site and prayed.
“We’re a very close-knit community,” Dillon said, “and we’re going to get through this with the help of the Lord.”
Hurricane Ida blasted ashore Sunday as a Category 4 storm, one of the most powerful ever to hit the U.S. mainland. It knocked out power to much of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi, blowing roofs off buildings and causing widespread flooding as it pushed a surge of ocean water that briefly reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.