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Disaster 'worse than thought'
04/12/2007 11:34 - (SA)
Dhaka - The humanitarian disaster caused by last month's cyclone in Bangladesh is far worse than previously thought, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
More than three weeks after cyclone Sidr smashed into the delta nation's southwestern coast from the Bay of Bengal, the UN said 2.6 million people were still in dire need of life-saving assistance.
The warning came as the country's emergency government said it needed one billion dollars to rebuild devastated coastal communities and protect itself from what it says are increased disasters due to climate change.
"The humanitarian situation in Bangladesh in the wake of last month's devastating Cyclone Sidr is much worse than previously understood," the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
More than 8.5 million people are estimated to have been affected by the November 15 storm, about 1.5 million more than originally thought, it said.
"As more information becomes available, an even grimmer reality is being revealed," OCHA said.
"The material damage is also more severe... nearly 564 000 homes have been completely destroyed, a leap of 200 000 on earlier reports, while another 885 280 houses have been damaged," it added.
'Bleak prospect of destitution'
The cyclone wiped out villages, infrastructure, livestock and crops, and killed nearly 3 300 people.
The head of the country's emergency government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, told donors in a meeting late on Monday that millions living along the coast - already one of the poorest places on earth - were now facing the "bleak prospect of destitution".
"We cannot allow the cyclone victims to permanently slide down into poverty," said Ahmed, a former head of Bangladesh's central bank and employee of the World Bank.
Densely populated and low-lying Bangladesh was also hit by floods in July and August that killed an estimated 1 100 people and hit 10 million people.
"We urge the international community to take a long-term holistic approach in helping us confront the challenges of natural disasters that continue to grow in severity and frequency due to climate change," Ahmed said.
"An internationally created problem like climate change demands an internationally supported sustainable solution for those worst-affected, as in Bangladesh."
Bangladesh has said it has received pledges of $470m for the emergency relief operation, but Ahmed said donors would have to dig deeper to save millions who have been left with nothing.
He said the government needed $250m to rebuild coastal embankments, which also serve as highways, and another $150m for reforestation in the Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.
He also told Bangladesh's leading donors that $300m was required for roads and bridges, $100m for schools and another $200m dollars for new cyclone shelters.
- SAPA
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