The flood situation in parts of Cox’s Bazar remained critical today as renewed rainfall overnight and throughout the day reversed the slight improvement seen a day earlier, leaving an estimated 200,000 people stranded across three upazilas.
Although rainfall decreased yesterday, allowing floodwaters to recede in some areas, continuous rain from last night into this afternoon caused water levels to rise again, according to local administration officials, public representatives and residents.
Large parts of Chakaria, Pekua, and Matamuhuri upazilas remain submerged, with many residents having been marooned for the past seven to eight days.
Residents said the situation is not merely unchanged but has become more severe as thousands continue to live without access to adequate food, drinking water, and cooking facilities. They alleged that while people living along main roads have received relief assistance, many families in remote flood-hit villages have yet to receive any aid.
Chakaria Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shahin Delwar said water levels had fallen considerably yesterday due to reduced rainfall, but today’s heavy downpour pushed the situation back to its previous level.
“More than 100,000 people are still marooned. It is true that many have not yet received relief,” he said.
He said the administration has already spent twice the amount of its government allocation on emergency response. Around 4,000 relief packages have been distributed by the upazila administration, while another 1,000 packages came from outside sources, bringing the total to 5,000.
“However, this is still far from sufficient. We are purchasing dry food from Chattogram, packing it locally and distributing it as quickly as possible,” he added.
Pekua UNO Rafiqul Islam said the flood situation in the upazila had slightly improved until last night but deteriorated again following continuous rainfall.
“Nearly 50,000 people are currently marooned. All seven unions of the upazila have been affected. We are arranging 1,000 relief packages for each union, but the assistance is still inadequate compared to the actual need,” he said.
Shamsul Alam, a resident of Sagarpara in Pekua, said his family has remained stranded for seven days without receiving any relief.
“We have no way to cook. We are surviving on whatever dry food we can manage,” he said.
Nurul Afsar, a resident of Majher Para in Badarkhali union under Matamuhuri upazila, said families in his area are facing an acute humanitarian crisis. “There is no way to cook food. Dry food is our only hope, but even that is becoming unavailable. If relief does not reach us soon, the situation will become much worse,” he said.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/environment/climate-crisis/natural-disaster/news/200000-still-marooned-rain-deepens-coxs-bazar-flood-crisis-4222121
