Bangladesh flooding case study

Where?
Bangladesh is located in South East Asia.

When?
Major flood in July to August

Physical causes
1) Low flat country
2) 80% of the country is less than 2 metres above sea level - it is a giant flood plain and delta.
3) Heavy monsoon rainfall
4) High temperatures in July led to snowmelt from the Himalayas which then flooded the three major rivers of Bangladesh.

Human causes
1) Deforestation in Nepal leads to increased discharge further downstream in Bangladesh.
2) Bangladesh heavily populated so there is much urbanisation on the flood plain.
3) There are very poorly maintained embankments.

Effects
1) 30 million people were affected by this flood.
2) The flood cost Bangladesh $3 billion
3) Much valuable farmland was lost so many farmers did not ahve enough food to eat to survive (many farmers are subsistence remember).
4) Lack of cloean water so diseases were spreading quickly.
5) Many people sought refuge on roofs and weer bitten by snakes.
6) Over 1000 people died!
7) Communications were disrupted so assistance was difficult.
8) Bangladesh lost valuable industries 20% of output lost.

Management
1) After the flood many charities such as Oxfam sent in large quantities of food, medicines, water purification tablets and money to help.
2) In disasters such as these, many people were reliant on family members for help.
3) Newspapers were used to try and educate people to not drink the dirty water.
4) Flood shelters. These are constructed of concrete and on stilts in the low lying agricultural areas so that farmers can move their families and valuable possessions to a safe place until the after the water level drops.