18 years on, coastal districts still bear scars of Cyclone Sidr

City Desk :

Eighteen years have passed since Super Cyclone Sidr slammed into Bangladesh’s southern coast on this day in 2007, leaving behind a trail of devastation that still haunts thousands of coastal families.

Striking at nightfall on November 15, Sidr tore through 12 coastal districts with winds over 240 kmph, killing thousands of people and animals, flattening homes, and destroying vast stretches of cropland and forests.

Entire villages were washed away as the cyclone’s massive storm surge swept through Barguna, Patuakhali, Bagerhat and Pirojpur – the worst-hit districts. The cyclone also caused severe destruction in Jhalakathi, Satkhira, Khulna, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Barishal and Bhola where schools, roads, embankments and other infrastructure were left in ruins.

According to official figures, Sidr claimed 3,406 lives, left 1,003 people missing, and severely injured another 55,000. Thousands of hectares of farmland were ruined, trees uprooted, and countless families lost their livelihoods, reports UNB.

Many coastal residents say they have yet to fully recover from the economic and emotional loss dealt by one of the deadliest cyclones in Bangladesh’s history.

UNB Patuakhali correspondent reports even though 18 years have passed since Cyclone Sidr many embankments in Patuakhali remain unprotected.

Adequate cyclone shelters have still not been constructed in all areas of the char regions.
Some 677 people were killed and 50 others went missing in the district during the cyclone .
Nearly 8,500 people were injured among whom 2,000 have become disabled. Some 5 lakh acres of areas of crop lands were destroyed while 55,000 establishments including 351 educational institutions and 1,500 religious establishments were damaged by the cyclone.

Nearly 250 hectares of forest lands were destroyed and 18,000 livestock died during the cyclone.
Several kilometers of embankments, including 412 drainage sluices, were damaged.