Survivors in dire need of food, water, shelter

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FE Report
The death toll from a powerful cyclone that pulverised the country's south-western coasts stood at 2000 Saturday, while the government intensified rescue and relief operations to help the SIDR-survivors avoid hunger and death.
However, official figures put the death toll at 1723 until 9 pm on the day.
The category-4 cyclone, with 250-kilometre-an-hour winds battered the Khulna-Barisal coastal zone late Thursday before heading toward Dhaka and its adjoining districts.
Official figures say, the death toll from the tropical storm was 12 in Khulna, 11 in Satkhira, 150 in Bagerhat, 83 in Barisal, 34 in Jhalakathi, 134 in Pirojpur, 275 in Barguna, 23 in Bhola, 249 in Patuakhali, 1 in Laxmipur, 4 in Chandpur, 1 in Chittagong, 1 in Jessore, 10 in Faridpur, 4 in Dhaka, 26 in Gopalganj, 30 in Madaripur, 15 in Shariatpur, 1 in Rajbari, 2 in Narayanganj and 4 in Munshiganj.
The cyclone damaged over 90 per cent kutcha and tin-roofed houses and uprooted about 60 to 80 percent of the trees. It also left an estimated 600,000 people homeless. About 3.2 million people fled to higher ground or went to shelters, the United Nations says.
Victims of the natural disaster are going without food, shelter and safe drinking water in many affected areas.
Red Crescent officials said some 1,000 fishermen were still unaccounted for in the Bay of Bengal, onboard about 150 boats.
Nearly 3,000 army troops from different garrisons were deployed in the cyclone-hit areas and started massive relief and rescue operations, said a release of ISPR.
A good number of naval ships were also dispatched Saturday in Mongla, Bagerhat, Borguna, Jhalakathi, Patuakhali, Pirojpur and Barisal districts to spot dead bodies, rescue survivors in critical condition, officials said in the city.
In the same way, Bangladesh Air Force helicopters joined the immediate rescue efforts and were busy delivering emergency foods and medicines on the day to some of the inaccessible areas.
"It's really an uphill struggle on the part of emergency personnel to reach the worst-hit areas. The cyclone has cut off communications with these areas, making it difficult to conduct relief operations," ABM Siddiqui of Disaster Management Bureau said.
He, however, insisted that the civil administration in collaboration with the armed forces would continue their efforts to reach the survivors desperately seeking help.
At least five naval vessels got to the coastal and offshore islands and started to provide relief to survivors and retrieve bodies, officials noted.
The naval ships are also trying to clear river channels clogged with sunken vessels to help restore normal navigation, they said.
The US navy is reportedly ready to send two amphibious assault ships with helicopters to help its Bangladeshi counterpart to carry out rescue operations.
When contacted, foreign secretary Touhid Hossain, however, said he has no idea about the US government's proposed assistance.
"We've not yet been officially informed of the US government's plan to send ships," he added.
The Army personnel from Jessore, Savar, Chittagong and Comilla infantry divisions joined the operations in aid to the people left in misery by Thursday night's terrible cyclone, said the ISPR.
They started with distribution of lifesaving medicines. Besides, food, water and cooking pots are being handed out to the affected people, who have mostly lost their hearth and home.
Airforce helicopters went on air-dropping relief supplies on inaccessible backwater areas of Dublarchar, Kuakata, Patharghata, Hiron Point, Mothbaria and Sarankhola.
Local and international aid agencies are struggling to conduct relief operations in the damaged areas, providing tens of thousands of SIDR-survivors with dry food, medicines and other essential items.
"Our relief teams have started emergency distribution, with an initial coverage of 100,000 people," Vince Edwards, World Vision's Bangladesh national director, said in a statement Saturday.
"However, several areas are inaccessible right now due to fallen trees," he added.
He pointed out that rice crops which are due for harvesting next month have been seriously damaged.
"It will take several days to complete the search and know the actual casualty figure and extent of damage to property," Ayub Miah, an official of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, told a foreign news agency.
Bangladesh, known globally for frequent natural disasters, is hit every year by cyclones and floods, but cyclone SIDR is considered the worst since 1991 cyclonic storm that left a trail of destruction, with some 143,000 being killed.
Disaster Management Bureau officials say this year's casualties have been much lower than the previous ones, thanks mainly to the improved warning and evacuation systems.
In addition, the successive governments have built a network of cyclone shelters across the coastal zone and offshore islands, thus enabling the people take refuge during natural calamities.