Flood engulfs central dists

With half of Bhuyanpur, an upazila in Tangail, a central Bangladesh district, gone under water over the last two days with the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna continuously swelling, the total number of flood-affected districts rose to 10 until Friday.

Parts of Rajbari, another central district, also went under water two days ago, when the Padma flowed above its danger level at Goalondo, where the river flowed 18cm above the danger level until Friday afternoon.

Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre’s daily flood bulletin said that the three major rivers of the country may continue swelling as their catchment saw rainfall increase with the rivers continuing to cause severe flooding along their upper basins.

‘This flood should have been brief, but it already lingered for an unexpected length of time,’ said FFWC executive engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuyan.

He however expected all overflowing rivers to fall below their danger marks by the end of the week.

Flood forecast by India’s Central Water Commission showed that the Ganges was  flowing above its danger levels at 19 points, causing severe flooding along its basin in Bihar and West Bengal.

Severe flood gripped at least two towns in Assam along the Brahmaputra basin with six other places experiencing above normal flood until Friday afternoon.

Flood is considered above normal by India’s flood forecasters when severe flooding occurs with rivers flowing above their danger levels.

Bangladesh considers it severe flooding when rivers flow 1m above their danger levels, which is currently the case for the Karatoa, flowing 1.16m above its danger level at Chakrahimpur of Gaibandha, a northern district.

Gaibandha seems the worst affected district so far with the Jamuna, Ghaghot, Karatoa rivers on its three sides flowing far above their danger marks and still swelling.

The Jamuna and the Atrai were also flowing above their danger levels at three points in Sirajganj, another northern district, according to data released by FFWC.

The Atrai was also flowing 55cm above its danger mark at Atrai of the northern district of Naogaon, which is also witnessing its other river — Little Jamuna — flowing 14cm above its danger mark.

Bangladesh considers it normal flooding when rivers reach their danger levels or flow up to 99cm above the danger level.

New Age correspondent in Tangail reported that half of all six unions of Bhuyanpur went under water with the river Dhaleswari flowing only 12cm above its danger mark.

Heavy rain continued in Tangail for the last two days with the country’s highest rainfall of 49mm in the 24 hours until 6:00am on Friday recorded at Tangail, leaving the people in the grip of fear over the worsening flood.

New Age correspondent in Munshiganj reported that the Padma swelled rapidly over the last two days inundating low-lying areas, just some days after they had surfaced from under water.

The Padma and the Jamuna flowed at warning levels, 50cm, within their danger levels at Shariatpur and Manikganj, the central districts that had been badly hit by the monsoon flood that wreaked havoc in 40 per cent of Bangladesh between June and August.

A total of 33 districts and over five million people were affected in the previous flood which killed over 250 people and caused damage worth over Tk 5,000 crore.

The river Passur and the Betna in southern Bangladesh were also flowing above their danger levels but not included in the FFWC’s daily flood bulletin list.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department in its monthly weather outlook released on Thursday said that Bangladesh had 33.3 per cent of excess normal rainfall in September.

The latest spell of flood began on September 16 and worsened rapidly after unusual heavy rainfall in Rangpur division on September 26.

The BMD predicted above normal rainfall in October with the possibilities of two low pressures forming over the Bay of Bengal in the month and the monsoon withdrawing by the third week of the month.

One of the low pressure could turn into a cyclone, said the BMD weather outlook.

A low pressure is currently hovering over the bay and under its influence many places in Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions could experience rain through today, said the BMD in its daily weather forecast.

India Meteorological Department said heavy rainfall was also likely until Tuesday at places of Gangetic West Bengal and Assam and Meghalaya under the influence of the low pressure.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net