Bangladesh Flooding (LEDC)

Causes, Impact and Management

Bangladesh is the most flood-prone country in the world.

In 1998 between July and September Bangladesh suffered one of its worst ever floods, making over
30 million people homeless and over 1300 dead. And around 2/3 rds of the country was under water
for over 50 days. Even now, over a decade later people haven’t recovered from the effects.

Causes
Why is Bangladesh so prone to flooding?

 Bangladesh is and LEDC country so doesn’t have enough money for good flood preparations,
prevention or aid for the after effects.
 Bangladesh is a very low-lying country with 70% of its land less than 1m above sea level so it
is easy for floodwater to spread over a wide area with nothing to stop it. -80% of its land is a
floodplain.
 Bangladesh has a monsoon climate meaning that for some of the year sudden and heavy
rainfall is common. This results in more water being in the rivers than they can handle so
they exceed their capacity and flood.
 There are two main rivers that run through Bangladesh: the Ganges and the Brahmaputra
which for a huge delta at the mouth. These rivers are the source of most of Bangladesh’s
water.
o Both of these rivers contain a huge volume of water and have a large drainage basin
which increases the risk of flooding.
 In the spring, melting snow from the Himalayas drastically increases flood risks as torrents of
melt water enter the rivers near their source.
 Human effects increase the risk of flooding:
o Deforestation decreases the amount of interception that takes place, so more water
enters the river channel faster than it would with trees. Trees are also good because
their roots hold onto the soil, stopping it from being washed away.
o Buildings and roads prevent infiltration from occurring so water can’t get taken into
the ground and instead goes directly into the river.
 Bangladesh is densely populated with many people living near rivers and coast as it provides
the best income and jobs such as fishing, exporting etc. This means there are many people
living in extremely flood prone areas and are more likely to be devastated by floods.
 Houses are poorly build and the materials are weak so a flood can easily damage then or
destroy them making them uninhabitable.
 Rivers and embankments are poorly maintained so maximum discharge is low.
 Also, global warming and rising sea levels is suspected to make flooding more likely and
floods like in 1998 more common.
Primary Impacts
 Damaged and destroyed homes from floodwaters means many people are made
homeless.
 Death from drowning etc.
 Around 20 million families in need of emergency aid.
 More than 20 million acres of farmland was submerged and countless crops ruined
 500 000 cattle and poultry killed
 Pipes burst and are damaged so the flood water not only covered the land but was
polluted with sewage, exposing 5 million people to water-borne diseases.
 Transport and communication systems are destroyed and damaged.

Secondary Impacts
 Disease from living in cramped conditions with poor sanitation. Damaged water pipes
mean contaminated water which can spread many, sometimes fatal, diseases.
 Famine from destroyed crops and livestock means that many people go hungry and can
suffer from starvation and malnutrition.
 Damaged transport and communications meant that aid was blocked from getting to
rural areas – so the death toll rose.
 As well as losing lives and homes, many livelihoods were lost e.g.) factories and
workshops destroyed, fishing boats lost.
 Overall, the damage was thought to be in excess of $2.2 billion.

Responses and management

Short term
 Boats and emergency services were sent out to help the stranded and drowning.
 Those who weren’t stranded we sent emergency supplies such as tents, food, clean
water and medication.
 Aid from international countries was sent to help with the devastation.
 Repairs to homes and sewage works were started as soon as possible.

Long term
 New laws were put in place to reduce deforestation.
 350kms of 7m high embankments were built to increase the capacity of the rivers.
 Seven large dams are in construction to store excess water.
 5000 flood shelters were built for the population to go to as protection from floods.
These shelters can be used as community centres & teaching facilities when the risk of
flooding is low.