Post Cyclone Challenges of Relief Post Cyclone Challenges of

Nepur Ahmed1
Director, Department of Relief and Rehabilitation (DRR)
Post Cyclone Challenges of Relief &
Rehabilitation Operation in Coastal
Areas
Issues to be Discussed
About DRR,
Types of Disaster,
Cyclone,
List of Recent cyclones in Bangladesh,
Some experiences,
Some challenges.
About DRR
Serial
Name of Post
Sanctioned Post
Vacant Post
1
Director General
01
00
2
Director
05
00
3
Deputy Director
13
01
4
Executive Engineer
02
01
5
Computer Programmer
01
00
6
Assistant Director
11
01
7
Assistant Engineer
02
00
8
District Relief & Rehabilitation 68
Officer
Project
Implementation 200
Officer (Class-I)
Project
Implementation 303
Officer (Class-II)
9
10
13
00
123
11
Class-III
883
41
12
Class-IV
204
19
Total
1693
199
Defining Disaster
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Mr. Nepur Ahmed is a deputy secretary working with the Ministry of Food and Disaster management. He has completed his
masters in political science from Dhaka University and also pursued higher study in Strathclyde University in Glasgow, UK.
He has served in different ministries in various capacities and also as Deputy Commissioner of Kushtia district. He had also a tour of
duty as Civil Affairs Officer in the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor UNTAET.
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The Disaster Management Training Manual of the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization
(UNDRO) defines Disaster as “a serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing
widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected
society to cope using only its own resources”.
Disaster in Bangladesh
Bangladesh suffers from devastating natural hazards such as cyclones, tornadoes, river
erosion, floods, drought, earthquakes, etc.
These disaster situation greatly hinder the development of the country.
They result in the loss of lives, livelihoods, assets and infrastructures.
Impacts of these disasters: magnitude of poverty, increasing rural to urban migration,
accentuates the rising level of vulnerability to catastrophic episodes affecting life and
livelihood.
Bangladesh is facing a number of severe natural Hazards every year causing disasters,
such as:
a. Floods
b. Cyclone & tidal surge
c. Drought
d. River bank erosion
e. Water logging
f. Salinity
g. Tornados
Disaster Management in Bangladesh
In the last few years Bangladesh has not only succeeded in the response management
but is also moving proactively towards risk reduction culture.
The response management system had well developed and integrated from National
to Local level. (limitations- Search and Rescue for Earthquake, Lack of transport for
evacuation during cyclone and floods).
Bangladesh is nowadays trying to conceptualize disaster management as a
development issue and therefore more risk reduction programs are being implemented by
the Government.
GoB has also developed a very comprehensive vision, mission and development
objectives.
Cyclone
Bangladesh, due to its unique geographic location, suffers from devastating cyclones
frequently. The funnel-shaped northern portion of the Bay of Bengal causes tidal bores when
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cyclones make landfall, and thousands of people living in the coastal areas are affected.
Some of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history with high casualties were
tropical cyclones that hit the region now forming Bangladesh. Among them, the 1970 Bhola
cyclone alone claimed more than 500,000 lives.
Fig: Proportion of coastal Upazila (sub-district) affected by severe cyclones
Fig: Cyclone Prone Districts
Some notable cyclones
17–19 May 1948:
A cyclonic storm hit the delta between Chittagong and Noakhali.
Casualty: approximately 1,200 people and 20,000 cattle.
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16–19 May 1958:
A cyclonic storm accompanied by storm surge hit east and west
Meghna River estuary, east of Barisal and Noakhali. Casualty: 870 people and 14,500. Also
standing crops were destroyed.
21–24 October 1958:
A cyclonic storm struck Chittagong coast. Effect: Approx.
100,000 families were rendered homeless.
30–31 October 1960:
A severe cyclonic storm hit Chittagong, Noakhali,
Bakerganj, Faridpur, Patuakhali and eastern Meghna estuary, with wind speeds up to
210 km/h. The storm surge reached a height of 4.5-6.1 m. Casualty: about 10,000 people,
27,793 cattle. Losses: 568,161 houses destroyed (including 70% houses in Hatiya). Also, two
large ocean-going ships ran aground in the shore, and 5-7 vessels capsized in Karnaphuli
River.
9 May 1961:
A severe cyclonic storm hit Bagerhat and Khulna. It had wind
speeds of up to 161 km/h. The storm surge reached 2.44-3.05 m. Casualty: 11,468 people
(mostly in Char Alexander), 25,000 cattle. Damages: The railway tracks between Noakhali and
Harinarayanpur were damaged.
26–30 October 1962:
A severe cyclone hit Feni. Maximum wind speed was
161 km/h. The storm surge was 2.5-3.0 m. Casualty: about 1,000 people, many domestic
cattle.
28–29 May 1963:
A severe cyclonic storm devastated Chittagong, Noakhali,
Bazar and the coastal islands of Sandwip, Kutubdia, Hatiya and Maheshkhali. The storm
reached 4.3-5.2 m in Chittagong. Maximum windspeed was up to 203 km/h and at
Bazar 164 km/h. Casualty: 11,520 people, 32,617 cattle. Damages: 376,332 houses,
boats, and standing crops.
Cox's
surge
Cox's
4,787
11–12 May 1965:
A strong cyclone hit Barisal and Bakerganj. The windspeed
reached a maximum of 162 km/h. The storm surge was 3.7 m. Casualty:19,279 people (out of
that, 16,456 in Barisal).
14–15 December 1965:
A strong cyclone hit the coast near Cox's Bazar and
Patuakhali. The storm surge rose up to 4.7-6.1 m. The windspeed was up to 210 km/h in Cox's
Bazar. Casualty" 873 people. Damage: 40,000 salt beds destroyed.
01 October 1966:
A cyclone hit Sandwip, Bakerganj, Khulna, Chittagong, Noakhali
and Comilla. Maximum strong surge was 4.7-9.1 m. The maximum wind speed was 146 km/h.
Total people affected: 1.5 million people. Casualty: 850 people, 65,000 cattle.
28–30 November 1971:
A cyclonic storm hit the coast near the Sundarbans.
Maximum wind speed was 97–113 km/h. The storm surge reached 1 m. Low lying areas of
Khulna town inundated.
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6–9 December 1973:
The coastal areas near the Sundarbans were hit by a
cyclone, accompanied by storm surge. Coastal areas near Patuakhali and nearby islands
were submerged under the tidal bore.
13–15 August 1974:
A cyclonic storm hit Khulna. Maximum wind speed reached
80.5 km/h. Casualty:600 people.
24–28 November 1974:
A cyclone struck the coastal areas near Cox's Bazar and
Chittagong, including the offshore islands. Maximum wind speed reached 161 km/h. The
storm surge was up to 2.8-5.2 m. Casualty: 200 people, 1000 cattle. Damages: 2,300 houses
destroyed.
14–15 October 1983:
A strong cyclone hit the coastal islands and chars near
Chittagong and Noakhali. Maximum wind speed reached 122 km/h: Casualty: 43 people. 6
fishing boats and a trawler lost, more than 150 fishermen and 100 fishing boats went missing
Damages: 20% of the aman rice crops in the affected regions were destroyed.
5–9 November 1983:
A cyclone hit Chittagong, Cox's Bazar coast near Kutubdia,
St Martin's Island, Teknaf, Ukhia, Moipong, Sonadia, Barisal, Patuakhali and Noakhali. The
maximum wind speed reached 136 km/h. The storm surge was 1.52 m. Casualty:300 fishermen
with 50 boats missing. Damages: 2,000 houses destroyed.
24–25 May 1985:
A severe cyclone hit Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali and
coastal islands (Sandwip, Hatiya, and Urirchar). Maximum wind speed at Chittagong was
154 km/h, at Sandwip was 140 km/h, at Cox's Bazar was 100 km/h. The storm surge reached a
height of 3.0-4.6 m. Casualty:11,069 people, 135,033 cattle. Damages: 94,379 houses and
74 km of road, and embankments destroyed.
8–9 November 1986:
A severe cyclonic storm hit the coastal island and chars near
Chittagong, Barisal, Patuakhali and Noakhali. Maximum windspeed was 110 km/h at
Chittagong and 90 km/h at Khulna. Casualty: 14 people. Damages: 972 km² of paddy fields
were inundated; Schools, mosques, warehouses, hospitals, houses and buildings were
destroyed at Amtali upazila in Barguna District.
31 May-2 June 1991:
A cyclone hit the coastalislands and chars near
Patuakhali, barisal, Noakhali & Chittagong. Maximum wind speed reached 110 km/h. The
stoem surge was 1.9 m.
29 April-3 May 1994:
A severe cyclonic storm hit the coastal islands near Cox's
Bazar. The maximum wind speed was up to 210 km/h. Casualty: 650 people 17,000 cattle.
21–25 November 1995:
A severe cyclonic storm hit the coastal islands near Cox's
Bazar. The maximum wind speed was up to 210 km/h. Casualty: 650 people, 17,000 cattle.
16–19 May 1997:
A severe cyclonic storm hit the coastal islands and chars near
Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali and Bhola districts. The maximum wind speed was
225 km/hour, and the storm surge reached 3.05 metres. Casualty: 126 people.
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Some recent devastating cyclones in Bangladesh:
1970 Bhola Cyclone
1991 Cyclone
2008 Cyclone Sidr
2009 Cyclone Aila
Four devastating cyclones
1970 Bhola cyclone.
The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a
devastating cyclone that struck Bangladesh on November 12,
1970. It was the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, and
one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern times. Up to
500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of
the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the
Ganges Delta. This cyclone was the sixth cyclonic storm of the
1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, and also the season's
strongest, reaching a strength equivalent to a Category 3
hurricane.
1991 cyclone .
The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone (IMD
designation:BOB 01, JTWC designation:02B) was among the
deadliest tropical cyclones on record. On the night of 29 April
1991 a powerful tropical cyclone struck the Chittagong district of
southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 250 km/h
(155 mph). The storm forced a 6 metre (20 ft) storm surge inland
over a wide area, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as
many as 10 million homeless.
Sidr 2007.
Cyclone Sidr was the strongest named
cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The fourth named storm of the
2007. strengthened to reach peak 1-minute sustained winds of
260 km/h which would make it a Category-5 equivalent tropical
cyclone. The storm eventually made landfall in Bangladeshon
November 15, 2007. The storm caused large-scale evacuations.
3,447 deaths were blamed on the storm.
Aila 2009.
Cyclone Aila was the second tropical
cyclone to form within the Northern Indian Ocean during 2009.
The disturbance that was to become Cyclone Aila formed on 21
May 2009 about 950 kilometres (590 mi) to the south of Kolkata, in
India. Over the next couple of days the disturbance slowly
developed before a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued
by the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre early on 23 May 2009 and
being designated as a depression by RSMC New Delhi. As of 27
6
May 2009), 330 people have been killed by Aila and at least 8,208 more are missing, while
about 1 million are homeless. Health officials in Bangladesh confirmed a deadly outbreak of
diarrhea on 29 May, with more than 7,000 people being infected and four dying. In
Bangladesh, an estimated 20 million people were at risk of post-disaster diseases due to Aila.
Damage totaled $40.7 million (USD).
Emergency Response Program
Emergency Food Relief
Emergency Cash Relief
Emergency Shelter as Relief
Distribution of Cloths and Tents as Relief
Distribution of Housing Materials as Relief
Emergency Coordination at Union/ Upazila/ District level
Emergency Medical Care
Communication Restoration
Security of the Evacuated and Sheltered People
Provide Social Counseling to the Victim
DRR in emergency response
Early Warning (Issuance and Dissemination)
Evacuation of People at Risks
Search and Rescue Operations
Emergency Relief (Food, Water, Medicine, Cloths, Shelter, Psychological, Housing Materials,
etc.)
Rehabilitation
DRR’s working levels
Union Level
Pourashava Level
City Corporation Level
Upazila Level
District Level
National Level
Cyclone Shelters
DRR has built several multi-purpose shelters in coastal and flood prone areas to reduce
the risks of death and injuries from natural hazards.
These shelters reduce numerous risks like:
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Insecured shelters.
Deaths and injuries.
Loss of valuable household assets.
Drowning of their children.
Relief Rehabilitation program
This is a disaster management program of the Government.
The main objective of this program is to meet the emergent needs of the situation.
Relief work is undertaken in 3 phases:
a. Pre-disaster,
b. During Disaster,
c. Post Disaster.
ROLE OF ARMED FORCES IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Armed Forces Division representatives are playing a major role as a member of the
National Disaster Management Council & Committees and District Disaster Management
Committees. The humanitarian role of Bangladesh Armed Forces during various disasters has
been acclaimed worldwide.
ew Design of Multipurpose Cyclone Shelter
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Source Mobilization System
What We Need
Personnel Resource training
Capacity Building
Infrastructure development
DRR Belief
People, and their immense capacity to cope with, are our best recourse for disaster and risk
management.
Challenges
Resource constraints lead to Inadequate Search & Rescue Equipment
Lack of Communication Facilities
Control and Coordination with NGOs and Donors
Distribution of Resources to Inaccessible Places
Lack of Helicopter Landing Sites in Remote Areas
Lack of Reliable Data Base
Disaster Forecast and Unwillingness of Vulnerable Population for evacuation
Lack of information
Lessons for the Future
Early Preparedness and Propagation of Early Warning System
Establishment of Effective Coordination cell
Good Communication Arrangement
Accessibility to affected Areas
Air Landing Facilities
Restoration of Essential Facilities
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