Bangladesh has deployed the army to help nearly two million people stranded by flood waters after torrential monsoon rains inundated large swathes of land for the second time in two weeks, officials said Friday.
Floods threaten millions in the lowlands, but experts say climate change is making them more dangerous and unpredictable.
Most of the northeastern regions were inundated and the situation could worsen over the weekend with more rain expected.
Authorities have suspended examinations in secondary schools in most parts of the country, due to the use of school buildings to house people displaced by the floods.
“The situation is very worrying. More than two million people are now stranded because of the flood waters,” said Muhammad Musharraf Hussain, director of Sylhet district.
“People have taken refuge in the boats. We have deployed the army and are trying to evacuate them,” he added.
Hussein noted that the authorities sent the army to rural towns hit by the floods, where soldiers distribute aid to those affected and rescue people from the rising tide.
Arifuzzaman Boyan of the government’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said the torrential rains that fell last week in Bangladesh and parts of neighboring India had poured into the overflowing rivers.
He added that the Surma River, the largest waterway in the Sylhet region, was more than a meter higher than usual.
“This is one of the worst floods in the history of the region. The situation will get worse in the next three days,” he added.
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