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Preparing for disasters in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, particularly susceptible to devastating cyclones and floods. With a population of more than 157 million and about 80 per cent living in rural areas, Bangladesh is also one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

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  • Transcript

    [Sound of engine-powered boat on water]

    [Ali Asgar] Cyclones usually come with a high tidal surge. Even in Sidr, some areas the tide was around a maximum up to three metres. It came say four to five kilometres inland. The majority of the people who live here are poor and their livelihood source is fishing. If their boat is destroyed or their fishing net is destroyed, then they will have huge debts and at the same time they’ll have to recover their lives.

    [Sounds of road traffic]

    [Male Speaker] [Speaking in Bangladeshi with English subtitles] During a low weather depression we raise one flag. When the danger increases, we raise a second flag. Three flags means the highest level of danger.

    [Ali Asgar] The cyclone preparedness programme is a joint programme of the Bangladeshi Red Crescent Society and the government and they are mainly responsible for the early warning for the cyclones in the costal areas. They have 42,000 volunteers around the coast.

    The first thing is that a community committee is formed and this committee is represented by one-third women.

    [Rosy Akhter speaking in Bangladeshi with English subtitles] We call a meeting for all the women, every month. We discuss the signalling system and what action we should take. During Cyclone Sidr, a woman badly injured her leg. We used our first aid training to bandage it with a sari.

    [Ali Asgar] They also arrange a dry run rehearsal to evacuate people and also in that process they practice their first aid learning. They have the sirens so it can be heard by everybody in the community. Even some volunteers they take risks to go to the isolated islands to evacuate people by boat and by other means.

    [Ekram Elahi Chowdhury speaking in English with English subtitles] This is how we get information from the meteorological department. They continuously receive bulletins from these two departments and then send this information to the general and sub-district offices.

    By the VHF radio, they communicate to the community level, communicating to the shelter level.

    [Abdul Hakim Sharkar speaking in Bangladeshi with English subtitles] When the tide came during Cyclone Sidr, people didn’t stay in their homes, they came to the shelter. There were more than 1,000 people in the shelter and on the veranda.

    [Ali Asgar] The hazard map is prepared by the community people. They gather together and draw a map of their area and identify the most vulnerable areas and also they identify their resources like the location of the tool wells, location of the second shelters, location of other permanent structures where people can take shelter.

    [Abdul Hakim Sharker speaking in English with subtitles in English] In 1991, 138,000 people were killed by the cyclone. Most of the victims were actually women and children. If their husbands had not given them the order, they were not allowed to go to cyclone shelter, in that time.

    [Ali Asgar] Now we are working in different levels through the religious leaders, through the community leaders, to ensure that the life saving is the first priority in any kind of situation.

    [Mohammed Alomgir Hussain speaking in Bangladeshi with English subtitles] It is our duty to persuade the women to come out to the shelters. During the sermon in the Mosque we explain why they should save their lives.

    [Chand Bou speaking in Bangladeshi with English subtitles] When I heard the siren I became very scared. I had one son who was still out at sea. My son has got two young children and I thought ‘I wont be able to save them.’ So I brought them to the cyclone shelter.

    [Abdul Hakim Sharker speaking in English with English subtitles] Bangladesh Red Cross Society staff and their volunteers are actually leading people to warn them about the disaster. Now the situation is improving day by day.

The combination of these factors means the impact of any natural disaster is often immense and can exceed local people’s ability to cope.

When Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh in November 2007, more than 3,300 people lost their lives. Before the cyclone hit, 5,000 community volunteers, trained through the Bangladesh Red Crescent’s cyclone preparedness programme, worked through the night to alert and evacuate the vulnerable. Without their tireless efforts, thousands more people would have died.

Preparing for cyclones

The British Red Cross has been working to lessen the impact of disaster and reduce communities’ vulnerabilities in Bangladesh since the 1970s.

We are currently working with the Bangladesh Red Crescent to help communities, particularly high-risk groups such as women and children, better prepare for, manage and overcome the impact of cyclones in nine high-risk coastal districts of Bangladesh.Flood-affected villagers in Bangladesh

We have helped set up 85 community committees and trained them in preparing for disasters, including helping them map out the hazards, analyse their risks and plan for cyclones.

Community participation

Other aspects of the programme include Bangladesh Red Crescent volunteers delivering awareness campaigns on how to respond to a cyclone, through drama, and peer education in schools.

One of the biggest challenges is encouraging women to participate. Workshops for Imams and Madrasha teachers (religious leaders) to inform them about the work of the Bangladesh Red Crescent and ask them to endorse women’s participation have yielded positive results. Increasing numbers of women are volunteering with the Bangladesh Red Crescent and becoming more vocal within their community.

Read about preparing women in Bangladesh for disasters
Woman sitting wearing sari with head covered Shukoda’s story: Preparing women for cyclones
Shukoda, from Subarnachar, in southern Bangladesh, was in her twenties when the cyclone of 1970 ravaged the coastline of Bangladesh.
Three women in saris with arms round each others shoulders Rawshan’s story: Turning tragedy to peace
Rawshan is one of ten community mobilisers hired through the Bangladesh Red Crescent’s community disaster preparedness project, which is co-funded by the British Red Cross.
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