OCHA Situation Report No. 4
Bangladesh: Cyclone Sidr
19 November 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from the
Bangladesh Disaster Management Information Centre, the UN Resident
Coordinator's Office Bangladesh, the Disaster Emergency Response Group
(DER), UN Agencies, UN OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
(ROAP) and media sources.

I. Situation in Bangladesh

1. Cyclone Sidr (Category IV) hit Bangladesh on the evening of 15
November. The cyclone struck offshore islands at 1830 hours and made
landfall across the southern coast from Cox's Bazaar in the east toward
the Satkhira districts in the west at 2030 hours local time, with wind
speeds of up to 240 kilometres per hour. The storm caused extensive
damage to the southern districts as it moved north across central
Bangladesh. The full scale of this disaster will become evident as
access improves in the coming days.

2. More than 3.1 million people in 28 southern districts are now known
to have been directly affected by the cyclonic storms. As of 19
November, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) official reports indicated
an increasing death toll of 2,408 people, with a further 1,063 missing
and 1,491 injured. These figures are expected to increase significantly
as more information becomes available from needs assessments, which are
currently ongoing. The GoB estimates that over 273,000 homes were
destroyed and a further 650,000 houses were partially damaged. An
estimated 761,361 acres of crops were damaged. Extensive damage to roads
and public buildings is also evident, including 75 educational
institutions destroyed and another 4,231 partially damaged. The worst
affected areas include Bagerhat, Barguna, Barisal, Bhola, Gopalgonj,
Jhalkhati, Khulna, Mandaripur, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Satkhira and
Shariatpur districts.

3. A series of assessments are currently underway and more detailed
information on the scale of the needs is expected to be made available
in the coming days. The Disaster Emergency and Response (DER) group
coordinated the pre-positioning of UN agencies and NGOs in affected
areas in advance of the cyclone, allowing initial assessment data to be
made available in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

4. On the basis of early assessment data, priority needs include food,
clean water supply, diarrhoea treatment and shelter assistance. The
longer term perspective requires rehabilitation of livelihoods,
infrastructure, health and educational services and increased shelter
capacity.

II. National Response in Bangladesh

5. To date, the Chief Adviser has allocated 100 million taka for relief
and house construction in eleven districts. The Deputy Commissioners are
procuring and collecting sufficient amount of dry food to respond to the
current situation. The Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM)
has allocated 4,000 metric tonnes of rice, 5,000 tents, 17,000 blankets
and 30 million taka as gratuitous relief grants, to date. A special fund
was established allocating 350 million taka for housing construction
grants. 13,000 bundles of corrugated iron sheets are ready for immediate
distribution. 732 medical teams are working in the affected areas. The
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division deployed several aircrafts and a number
of helicopters. Six Bangladesh Navy ships are conducting rescue,
evacuation, relief and reconnaissance operations in the worst storm
affected areas. While more roads are opened, the military continues to
bring relief items to the affected people by planes, boats and
helicopters.

6. The Government of Bangladesh held the Disaster and Emergency Response
group (DER) meetings on 15 November and 18 November. The next DER
meeting will be held on 22 November.

7. The Government of Bangladesh's early warning and preparedness systems
were activated prior to the cyclone making landfall, which greatly
reduced the humanitarian impact of this disaster. Preparedness measures
included the evacuation of approximately 3.2 million people. Alarms were
raised and relief and rescue items were stockpiled.

III. International Response in Bangladesh

8. The United Nations, IFRC, and NGOs, including Save the Children,
World Vision International, CARE, Caritas, OXFAM, Islamic Relief, ACT,
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Muslim Aid, and Plan,
continue to provide support to the Government of Bangladesh through
extensive emergency response mechanisms, including mobilizing in-country
staff and pre-positioned relief stocks across southern Bangladesh.

9. The United Nations is distributing 208 tonnes of high-energy biscuits
to assist an estimated 850,000 cyclone affected people. 240,000 packets
of water purifying powder are reaching 48,000 families. Shelter
materials (thick polyesters) will also be distributed to 18,000
households whose houses were destroyed by the storms. Partners are
currently distributing dry food (flattened rice and molasses) to 70,000
affected families.

10. The UN deployed an assessment team on 17 November. The team is
currently carrying out assessments in conjunction with district disaster
management authorities in the worst-affected districts. The Bangladesh
Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) is working with the International
Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) to carry out assessments in ten
districts. The Federation also deployed a Field Assessment and
Coordination (FACT) team on 19 November.

11. The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator released an initial
allocation of USD 9 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund
(CERF) for projects in the following clusters: Agriculture, Child
Protection, Food, Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Shelter and Non-Food
Items. A second round of allocations is subject to completed needs
assessments in the coming days.

12. On 16 November, IFRC launched a preliminary emergency appeal for US$
3.5 million to support the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society to assist
235,000 beneficiaries for a period of 9 months.

13. The European Union made an official pledge for USD 2.2 million and
the Government of Australia has pledged USD 2.7 million for emergency
response activities for the Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh.  The
humanitarian system would welcome information from Member States
regarding intentions to fund the emergency response.

14. This situation report, together with further information regarding
on-going emergencies, is also available on the Reliefweb:
http://www.reliefweb.int.


For detailed information please contact:

OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok)
Mr. Markus Werne
Tel. + 66 81 917 8940
Email: Werne@un.org

Regional Disaster Response Adviser - Asia-Pacific
Ms. Eliane Provo Kluit
Tel. +66819129854
Email : provokluit@un.org


Desk Officers:

(NYC) Ms. Kendra Clegg
Tel. +1 646 348 0346
Email: clegg@un.org

(GVA) Mr. Jean Verheyden
Tel: + 41 79 - 509 8116
Email: verheyden@un.org


Press contact:

(NYC) Ms. Stephanie Bunker
Tel. + 1 917 367 5126

(GVA) Ms. Elizabeth Byrs
Tel. + 41 22 917 2653


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