lectric power returned an hour ago, phone lines are back up, it appears that the worst has passed, though crops are lost and at least one million people are displaced”, said to MISNA Father Pio Mattevi, a Xaverian missionary who lives in Jessore, 60km north of Khulna, among the worst-hit by cyclone Sidr.
Now damage evaluations begin as rescuers gradually manage to reach the isolated areas: “It was a stronger cyclone than those that in 1970 and 1981 killed hundreds of thousands of people. The 300-350 dead reported now by radios, based on preliminary estimates, at least demonstrate that efforts made to provide safe shelters for the population are proving essential”.
The rain began last night at 8:00p.m (7:00a.m in USA) and continued until 4:00a.m in the morning. Eight hours of storm that destroyed thousands of poor bamboo huts: “Each time there is an emergency of this type, the women, children and elderly seek refuge in shelters set up by the government, in schools and brick homes; the men try to remain as long as possible in the huts, which in part explains the high number of victims.
It was a stronger cyclone than those that in 1970 and 1981 killed hundreds of thousands of people
Few hospitals have generators and, considering we were without power for a day and a half, it is easy to imagine the consequences”, added the missionary. The rescuers that in these hours are attempting to reach the isolated areas are hampered by communication problems (even mobile phone batteries are dead) and the high waves of the Bay of Bengal at the confluence of the Ganges and Bramaputra rivers. “But the worst problem is the damage to farmland. Rice crops were destroyed and all the season fruit was lost”, concluded to MISNA Fr. Pio.
(From MISNA)