Multiple disasters have struck Bangladesh due to continued heavy rainfall all over the country and upstream areas for the past three days.
At least six people were killed by lightning from rolling thunderstorms and floods between Sunday and Monday.
Very heavy rainfall, meanwhile, sparked flash floods in the Brahmaputra and the Meghna basins in the north and northeast and聽 landslides in the southeast, affecting at least 11 districts.
The extent of the disaster was evident in rainfall data recorded in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday morning.
In some places, rivers swelled up to 16 feet while nine inches of rainfall were recorded. Upstream in India, over 19 inches of rainfall were recorded during the same period.
The speed with which water entered Bangladesh from upstream forced thousands to run for shelter in affected areas.
Hundreds of thousands are believed to have been cut off in their houses in scores of villages in remote bordering north and northeast districts, and in the hills of Bandarban, a flash flood has left roads submerged in knee-deep water and landslides have dumped tonnes of mud on roads.
The worst, however, is believed to be yet to unfold, for the rain is forecast to continue for at least five more days, jointly induced by active monsoon winds and low pressure over the Bay of Bengal.
鈥榃e are afraid that our house will go underwater tonight,鈥� Faruk Ahmed, chairman of the Lakkhiprasad Pashchim union at Kanaighat in Sylhet, told 抖阴精品 on Monday noon.
Back-to-back disasters left Faruk so surprised that he went on to comment that he had not seen anything like this happening in his 50 years of life.
About two million people were already stranded in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj, and Moulvibazar before the latest wave of flash floods hit on Monday.
Over 15,000 people could not return home for over two weeks from flood shelters in the four northeastern districts since the second wave of flash floods hit in some places on June 14.
The first wave of flash floods was triggered by the cyclonic storm Remal that made landfall on May 28, dumping over 8 inches of rainfall inside Bangladesh for three days and more rain in India.
The situation was particularly bad in Sunamganj, where the Jadukata River flowed 96mm above its danger mark at 3:00pm on Monday after swelling 174cm in the past 24 hours.
Two upazilas鈥擳ahirpur and Dowarabazar鈥攚ere cut off from the district town of Sunamganj after road communications were snapped by water rising up to the knee and flowing over the roads at massive speed.
Locals at Kanaighat spotted cracks in at least 18 places along the embankment protecting vast landscapes from the Surma River flooding. Water continued to pour through the cracks.
Lokman Ali, a farmer of Karchati village in Kanaighat, told 抖阴精品 that people were leaving their houses in large numbers for shelters, fearing that the embankment might not hold for long.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, in its bulletin issued in the afternoon on Monday, showed that northeastern rivers were flowing above their danger marks at five points.
The Someshwari was flowing 21 cm above its danger mark at Kalmakanda at 3:00pm, triggering a flood in Netrakona.
The Teesta also overflowed its flood limit by five cm at Kaunia in Rangpur, the FFWC bulletin showed.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that 8,000 families were stranded in five northern districts - Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Kurigram, and Nilphamari.
At least 1,500 people sought refuge in shelters in the affected districts.聽
At least one 62-year-old man, Nilkanto Roy, died after being crushed under his house while trying to relocate it to save it from being washed away by the Teesta.
The Sangu River in the south-eastern hill basin swelled the highest by 501cm in the 24 hours until 9:00am on Monday, followed by 400cm of rise in Bhugai in Nakuagaon and 348cm swelling recorded in Matamuhuri in Lama.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Khagrachari reported that the operation of traffic on the Khagrachari-Rangamati road remained suspended due to flood water overflowing.
Authorities in the hilly districts continued circulating advisories through loudspeakers for the third consecutive day, asking people living on hill slopes to go to safe places until the inclement weather ends.
Hundreds of shelters were opened in the hilly districts of Bandarban and Khagrachari.
鈥榃e even asked people to disconnect illegal power and electricity connections to houses on the hills so that they come down to safety,鈥� said Shahiduzzaman, deputy commissioner, Khagrachari.
Bandarban鈥檚 deputy commissioner, Shah Mujahid Uddin, confirmed that the landslide disrupted road communication in Kumipara and Rawangchar on Monday morning, but it was restored in the afternoon.
District Relief and Rehabilitation Officers in Narail, Magura, and Bagerhat reported five deaths in lightning between Sunday afternoon and Monday.
Three of the deaths occurred in the early hours of Monday after lightning struck a group of pig herders at Ramnagarchar in Narail Sadar.
The deceased in Narail were identified as Ratan Mondol, 55, a resident of Jashore; Nondo Dhali, 54, and Milton Roy, 45, both residents of Satkhira.
The deceased in Bagerhat was identified as Iklas Sheikh, 57, while the deceased in Magura was identified as Tamim Molla, 22.
The FFWC, in its weather bulletin, reported between 2 inches and over 9 inches of rainfall in 33 places in Bangladesh in the 24 hours until 9:00am on Monday.
Dharla, Dudhkumar, and Brahmaputra rivers are also likely to cross their danger marks over the next 72 hours, the FFWC said.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall across Bangladesh over the next three days.
In the 24 hours until 6:00pm, the BMD recorded Bangladesh鈥檚 highest rainfall of over 7 inches in Sylhet.
The India Meteorological Department recorded over 19 inches of rainfall at Mawkyrwat in Assam and Meghalaya and almost similar volumes of rainfall in the east and west Khasi hills.
Over 7 inches of rainfall were also recorded in Arunachal Pradesh.
The IMD warned about isolated very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and Assam and Meghalaya through July 5.
Runoff from all these areas will pass through the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers.
