Department of Dryland Agriculture and Natural

Resources Management
B.Sc. Dry land Ecosystem and Agro-Ecosystem
Management (DEAM)

AAS 202: Dryland Resilience Adaption and Disaster

Management

Year II semester II
Names: Abdirashid Mohamed Aaden (IA/69/19)
Dayib Ismail Muhumed (IA/74/19)
Mohamoud Awil Jibril (IA/79/19)
Lecturer: Robert
March 2021
 Introduction
Floods are the most frequent type of natural disaster and occur when an overflow
of water submerges land that is usually dry. Floods are often caused by heavy
rainfall, rapid snowmelt or a storm surge from a tropical cyclone or tsunami in
coastal areas.
Bangladesh is a land of many rivers. It is very prone to flooding due to being
situated on the Brahmaputra River Delta and the many distributaries flowing into
the Bay of Bengal.
Due to being part of such a basin and being less than 5 meters above mean sea
level, Bangladesh faces the cumulative effects of floods due to water flashing
from nearby hills, the accumulation of the inflow of water from upstream
catchments, and locally heavy rainfall enhanced by drainage congestion.
Bangladesh faces this problem almost every year. Coastal flooding combined with
the bursting of river banks is common, and severely affects the landscape and
society of Bangladesh. 80% of Bangladesh is [floodplain] and it has an extensive
sea coastline rendering the nation very much at risk of periodic widespread
damage. Whilst more permanent defenses, strengthened with reinforced
concrete, are being built, many embankments are composed purely of soil and
turf and made by local farmers. Flooding normally occurs during the monsoon
season from June to September. The convectional rainfall of the monsoon is
added to by relief rainfall caused by the Himalayas. Meltwater from the
Himalayas is also a significant input.
Causes of flood:
 Tectonic uplift of the Himalayas means that erosion rates of sediment
increase as the rivers have more potential for erosion.  This mass of
sediment is dumped in Bangladesh choking the river channels making them
more inefficient and reducing hydraulic radius.  Sediment is dumped and
flooding can occur.
 Monsoon rainfall – some parts of the Ganges basin receive 500mm of
rainfall in a day during the monsoon.
 Deforestation of the Himalaya – reducing interception rates which means
shorter lag time and higher peak discharges.
 Three massive rivers converge in Bangladesh – the Ganges, Brahmaputra
and Meghna – massively swells discharges.
 Cyclones from the Bay of Bengal cause and contribute to coastal flooding.
 Snow melt affects the rivers too, as ice and snow melting from glaciers and
mountain peaks in the Himalaya works its way into rivers.
 The Himalaya also forces relief or orographic rainfall, increasing rainfall
totals and then river levels further.

Effects of floods:
Erosion of chars (islands) by flooding rivers causes landlessness amongst
Bangladesh’s poor; these people end up in major cities such as Chittagong
and Dhaka.
Death – over 200,000 people died in a cyclone and flood in the 1970s.
Loss of agricultural land – a major problem in a country with high natural
increase.
2004 Floods

The 2004 floods lasted from July to September and covered 50% of the
country at their peak. At the time of the July 2004 floods 40% of the capital,
Dhaka was under water. 600 deaths were reported and 30million people
were homeless. 100,000 people alone in Dhaka suffered from diarrhoea
from the flood waters. Bridges were destroyed, the death toll rose to 750
and the airport and major roads were flooded. This hampered relief efforts.
The damage to schools and hospitals was estimated at $7billion. Rural
areas also suffered, the rice crop was devastated as were important cash
crops such as jute and sugar.

2007 Floods
In 2007 major flooding occurred across wider South Asia, affecting not only
Bangladesh but parts of India, Bhutan and Pakistan.
In September 2007 (June the 30th to 15th of August) heavy rain and rivers
carrying water from upstream exacerbated flooding.
 Control of flood

Flood action plan – a system of huge embankments along the coast and rivers
reinforced by concrete.  They increase channel capacity and hydraulic radius but
stop floods replenishing fields with nutrients and can stop rainwater escaping into
fields. It also causes erosion downstream of the defences and prevents
deposition.
Improved drainage canals – the clearing of old canals had allowed a more efficient
drainage system allowing water to drain away more efficiently.
SPARSO and flood satellite imaging systems – allow more warning to be given to
Bangladeshis by monitoring cloud cover, hydrographs and rainfall patterns across
the river basins.
https://coolgeography.co.uk/A-levelFlooding/Bangladesh/Bangladesh.htm
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00662591