The onrush of water rising to 10 feet swept scores of villages in eastern, southeastern, and northeastern Bangladesh on Friday as deadly flash flooding continued for the fourth straight day, inflicting catastrophic damage.
The furious flash flood with rapid currents washed away parts of major flood protection embankments in Cumilla and Chattogram in the early hours, destroying what came in its way—homes, trees, bridges, agricultural farms, and killing animals and humans.

The flash flood so far has killed 15 people, including seven deaths on Friday, the disaster management and relief ministry said, adding that an estimated 48.69 lakh people were affected by the flood in 11 districts, awaiting rescue.
Nearly 10 lakh families were stranded in the floodwaters and two lakh were displaced, official estimates revealed, mostly living beyond electricity, mobile networks, and relief distribution coverage.
The entire district of Feni bore the brunt of the flash flooding, for it sits between the high hills of Tripura, where days of extreme rain sent down massive volumes of water.
The district was out of reach and electricity supply.
The division of Chattogram also remained cut off from Dhaka and the rest of the country because of flood water flowing high over stretches of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway and rail tracks for the second consecutive day. The rail link to Sylhet also remained suspended.
‘We heard a stream of people heading towards flood shelters,’ said Abed Ali, district relief and rehabilitation officer, Cumilla.
After the flood protection embankment protecting Cumilla from the Gumati partly collapsed, he said, flood water rushed to engulf scores of villages, leaving nearly 2 lakh people stranded in Burichang.
In hours, thousands sheltered in government institutions serving as flood centres, he said.
‘We cannot help people in need much. We don’t have boats,’ said Abed.
New Age correspondent in Cumilla reported that by the afternoon there was a gap of about 300 feet in Burburia, where the embankment had first collapsed in a rather tiny hole of 10 feet around 12:15am.
The collapse of the embankment rendered people’s struggle for days into nothing, for they passed the past few days guarding it day and night, amidst heavy rain.
Hundreds of people moved out of their homes after the breach in the embankment, repeating a scene that Bangladesh has seen many times since the flash flood began, triggered by very heavy rainfall and an onrush of water from upstream in India.
Many have taken shelter on rooftops or multi-storey buildings, cramped in rooms. The flood in Cumilla is compounded by India reportedly releasing water from its Dumboor hydroelectric project. The district’s 14 upazilas out of 17 lay inundated, with over 7 lakh people affected.
‘The flood washed away in moments what I achieved throughout my life,’ said Irene Akhter, a resident of Nanua’s Bazar in Burburia.
About 20 lakh people have been affected in Noakhali, said the district’s DRRO, Zahid Hasan Khan, adding that 76,000 people have been sheltered in flood shelters.
Chattogram’s Fatikchari upazila nirbahi officer, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, said that the residents of the hilly region could not remember a time when they witnessed such a flood.
About 1.50 lakh people were affected by the flood overnight on Friday.
‘Locals never watched so much water around them here,’ said Mozammel.
Fatikchari is flooded because the river Halda is overflowing. The river rises inside Bangladesh, and the flood is attributed to heavy rainfall in its catchment.
River management experts pointed out that Halda lost its catchment area to encroachers over the years, and the flood protection embankment also narrowed the river further, affecting its water-carrying capacity, particularly after a spell of very heavy rain.
New Age correspondent in Chattogram said that road communication remained completely snapped on Friday between Chattogram and the rest of the country because the stretch of road between Feni and Couddagram remained under the water.
In Rangunia, the Gumai beel, a landmass of 3,435 hectares, where farmers grew aman, was washed away.
Bangladesh Railway’s Chattogram divisional manager, Saiful Islam, said that they had requested authorities to keep train services suspended with Chattogram.
New Age correspondent in Moulvibazar reported that the Moulvibazar-Sherpur-Sylhet regional road had become vulnerable due to abnormal swelling in the river Manu.
Road communications have been temporarily suspended on the road.
The flood affected 1.95 lakh people in 7 upazilas of Moulvibazar district, including more than 6,000 people staying in flood shelters.
New Age correspondent in Brahmanbaria reported a slight improvement in the flood situation in Akhaura.
The correspondent reported that a temporary bridge was swept away in the Gazir Bazar area of Akhaura. Activities at the Akhaura landport remain suspended.
The Rural Electrification Board said that 10.73 lakh customers remained disconnected from electricity until Friday.
For the first time in days, there was a let up in rain in Bangladesh’s upstream region of India, and the sun shone over many places.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, in a bulletin issued at 6:00pm said that all rivers flowing above their danger marks had significantly receded.
The river Khowai still flowed 120cm above its danger mark at Balla, followed by the river Manu flowing 108cm above its danger mark at Moulvibazar and the river Feni flowing 155cm above its danger mark at Ramgarh.
Only the Halda kept swelling through Friday.
The danger, however, is far from over. The India Meteorological Department forecast said that heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is likely in Bangladesh’s upstream Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal, and Sikkim through August 28.
Heavy rain continued in parts of Bangladesh. In the 24 hours until 6:00pm on Friday, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said that the country›s highest rainfall of 176mm was recorded in Ishwardi.
Of the deaths, four each occurred in Cumilla and Chattogram, three in Cox’s Bazar, and one each in Noakhali, Brahmanbaria, Feni, and Lakshmipur.
Source: New Age