BANSKHALI, Chattogram — Holding his 11-month-old son tightly against his chest, Mofizul Alam stepped onto a waterlogged road, shielding the child with an umbrella. His wife, Nasima Alam, followed close behind.
Floodwater had entered their home in Monkichar, leaving the family with nowhere to cook. By Saturday, July 11, it had nearly reached their bed. They locked the house and began walking about half a kilometer through knee-deep water toward a shelter.
Their hurried departure reflected the human toll of a widening disaster across southeastern Bangladesh, where days of intense monsoon rain, runoff from surrounding hills and high coastal tides have submerged homes, severed roads and deprived communities of electricity, mobile service, food and safe drinking water.
By Saturday, floods and landslides had killed at least 44 people and stranded more than one million across seven districts, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. Nearly 268,000 households were isolated in Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Moulvibazar and Habiganj.
The death toll rose rapidly as reports emerged from previously inaccessible areas. At least 16 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, were killed in landslides in the densely populated camps of Cox’s Bazar, officials said. More than one million refugees live in shelters made largely of bamboo and plastic on steep, heavily deforested hills.
A journey for drinking water
For families in Banskhali, one of the hardest-hit subdistricts, survival increasingly depended on finding enough dry food and clean water to last another day.
Near Monkichar, two young men and a teenager carried four pitchers of drinking water on their heads and shoulders after walking about one kilometer to obtain it.
“Our homes have been under water for three days,” resident Neyamat Hossain told The Voice as he carried the water toward a shelter. “There is a food shortage and no safe drinking water. My parents, wife and children are at the shelter. If the water rises any further, we may not be able to return for water.”
Nearby, 62-year-old Kutub Bepary waded through the floodwater with a walking stick. Shakila Begum, 55, was making the same difficult journey with her son, Saizuddin.
“I did not see this much water even in 1991,” Shakila said while heading toward a shelter. “Water entered our house in the morning. When we saw how bad the situation was becoming, we decided to leave.”
Her reference to 1991 carries particular weight along the Chattogram coast. The catastrophic cyclone of April that year killed an estimated 138,000 people in Bangladesh, many in Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar. Memories of that disaster continue to influence how older residents assess danger and decide when to abandon their homes.
Shelter without adequate supplies
Eight coastal unions of Banskhali were reported inundated. Roads through Joldi Sadar, Shilkup, Gandamara, Baharchhara and Shekherkhil were covered by knee- to waist-deep water, while flooding spread into houses that had remained dry a day earlier.
At the Purba Ilsha Government Primary School shelter, 12 displaced families said they had been there since Thursday night without receiving food or a visit from a government representative. With no dependable source of safe water at the shelter, they had been buying it from a shop about five kilometers away.
“We brought rice and potatoes from home, but those are finished,” resident Sarwar Hossain told the Bangla-language daily Samakal. “Now we are surviving on puffed rice and limiting ourselves to one glass of water at a time. Other families here are facing the same hardship.”
His account exposed a critical weakness in the response: designating a building as a shelter does not guarantee protection. Displaced families also need potable water, food, toilets, medicine, lighting and security, as well as provisions for infants, pregnant women, older people and those with disabilities.
Government data released Friday said 1,057 shelters had opened across Chattogram division, but only slightly more than 12,000 people had entered them—a fraction of the hundreds of thousands reportedly stranded.
Some residents have moved in with relatives, gathered on elevated roads or remained on upper floors. Others have been unable to reach shelters because of strong currents, insufficient boats or delayed evacuation assistance. Poor conditions at shelters also discourage families from leaving their homes, livestock and remaining possessions.
Aid claims contrast with residents’ accounts
Banskhali Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Ruhul Amin said authorities were trying to move residents to safety and provide relief.
“Up to Thursday, we distributed 44 tonnes of rice and dry food among 2,500 families,” Amin told The Voice. “Relief and rescue activities are now being conducted in coordination with the army.”
Officials announced a wider package of Tk 21.5 million and 3,450 tonnes of rice for Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban. The government also instructed authorities to provide drinking water, sanitation, healthcare, baby food and three meals a day at shelters.
Those allocations appear substantial on paper, but accounts from Purba Ilsha and other inaccessible communities suggest a gap between supplies announced centrally and assistance reaching families.
Authorities should publish union-level records showing what food, water and medicine was dispatched, when it arrived and how many people received it. Transparent reporting would help identify neglected communities and reduce duplication, favoritism or diversion.
Infrastructure failures hinder rescues
Much of Satkania and Banskhali remained without electricity for about 48 hours. Mobile towers stopped working in several areas, preventing families from contacting relatives or emergency services and making it harder for rescuers to locate people trapped in homes.
The simultaneous collapse of power, telecommunications and road access exposed the fragility of essential infrastructure in disaster-prone communities. Authorities must determine whether mobile operators had sufficient backup power, fuel and emergency restoration teams in place.
The Bangladesh Army’s 10th and 24th Infantry Divisions were deployed at the district administration’s request. Soldiers brought speedboats and life jackets, while the 24th Infantry Division established three operational camps to coordinate rescue and relief efforts.
Navy and Fire Service teams were also deployed. In Chechuria, firefighters rescued 13 members of one family, including a pregnant woman and a child, from a house surrounded by floodwater, according to the government run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
Children among the dead
Children have been especially vulnerable to sudden currents and water surrounding their homes.
In Satkania’s South Rupkania area, two-year-old Ismail Hossain drowned after apparently entering the water unnoticed. He was taken to Satkania Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared him dead, local official Shamsuzzaman said.
Two other children—six-year-old Miraj and 11-year-old Ashik—were swept away in separate incidents in Banskhali’s Baharchhara union on Friday.
Roads, healthcare and livelihoods submerged
The destruction extended far beyond Banskhali.
Floodwater disrupted access to Satkania Upazila Health Complex and affected several services. In Chandanaish, authorities estimated that about 20,000 people remained waterlogged even as levels fell elsewhere. Homes, roads, farmland and fish ponds remained submerged.
In Dighinala, Khagrachhari, approximately 30 villages were affected. Roads to Longadu and Marishya were cut off, and thousands of families sought shelter. Although the Chengi River began receding, low-lying areas remained flooded. Farmers reported extensive losses of crops, fish, livestock and vegetables.
A bridge approach on the Rangamati-Bandarban road collapsed under pressure from hill runoff, severing direct communication between the districts. Officials said reopening the route could take about a week. Ferry services across the Karnaphuli River were also suspended, eliminating another route to Bandarban.
A public-health emergency may follow
The danger will not end when the water recedes. Floodwater can contaminate tube wells, stored food and household supplies with sewage, chemicals and animal waste, increasing the risk of diarrheal and other infectious diseases.
The threat is especially severe in shelters where sanitation is limited and residents are rationing water. Infants such as Mofizul Alam’s son, pregnant women, older residents and people with chronic illnesses face heightened risks from dehydration, infection and interrupted medical care.
Authorities must deploy mobile medical teams, disinfect or test water sources, distribute purification tablets and oral rehydration salts, and ensure adequate sanitation for women. Restoring electricity and telecommunications must also be treated as part of the life-saving response.
Bangladesh has long endured monsoon floods, but increasingly extreme rainfall is magnifying longstanding vulnerabilities. Climate pressure may intensify the danger, yet inadequate drainage, fragile infrastructure, deforestation, poorly supplied shelters and uneven relief distribution continue to turn natural hazards into preventable human suffering.
