The flash flood situation in the north-eastern Sylhet district worsened as flood water entered at least 100 new unions on Tuesday, affecting 1,25,568 more people, according to a report provided by the district administration.
The number of flood-affected people officially rose to 7,39,362.聽聽
At least 6,568 people sought refuge at 571 flood shelters in the affected 10 upazilas.
In the Sylhet City Corporation area, about 1 lakh people remained stranded either in flood or water stagnation.
鈥楾he situation is feared to worsen,鈥� said Sheikh Russel Hasan, the deputy commissioner of Sylhet.
Heavy rainfall continued in Sylhet and its upstream areas on Tuesday amid forecasts of the wet spell continuing over the next week.
The ongoing flash flood was triggered on May 30 in the wake of cyclonic storm Remal. Rain started on May 26, the day the cyclonic storm made its landfall in Bangladesh and West Bengal coasts.
The rain that is currently ongoing is occurring under the influence of the monsoon, which made third earliest onset in over four decades.
In the 24 hours until 9:00am on Tuesday Lalakhal in Sylhet recorded 104mm of rainfall, said Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre. Over 50mm of rainfall had been recorded over vast swathes of northern and north-eastern areas over the same period, mostly in Sylhet district.
Heavy rainfall continued in Sylhet鈥檚 upstream in Indian states of Meghalaya and also in West Bengal, and Tripura, the FFWC reported.
The Surma flowed 60 cm above the danger mark at Kanaighat while Kusiyara 27 above the danger mark at Amalshid point at 9:00am on Tuesday, according to the FFWC.
The flood situation might worsen today, the FFWC warned in the afternoon on Tuesday, saying that medium to heavy rainfall is expected in north, northeast and in their upstream areas over the next 72 hours.聽
Two upazila parisahds in Sylhet are going into elections today. The upazilas 鈥� Kanaighat and Zakiganj鈥� are the worst-hit.
A municipality and over 100 villages are under water in Zakiganj while over 1.51 lakh people are affected by flood in Kanaighat, according to the official account.
鈥楾he election cannot be postponed for the possibilities of the flood situation further worsening,鈥� said Zillur Rahman, the returning officer.
Authorities were mulling the possibility of changing five polling centres.
鈥楾here is no point in holding the elections amid a disaster. People should not risk their lives to cast votes,鈥� said Mortuza Ahmad, who is contesting for the position of chairman in Zakiganj upazila parishad.
Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, however, saw flood water recede from its premises on Tuesday.
According to local people, the flash flood already affected a million people in ten out of 13 upazilas in the district.
On Tuesday, flood water entered Dakshin Surma upazila for the first time.
A mild heatwave was sweeping parts of Bangladesh on Tuesday affecting Dhaka, Khulna, Jashore, and Chuadanga districts. Bangladesh鈥檚 highest maximum day air temperature of 37.2C was recorded in Pabna on Tuesday.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department on Tuesday morning predicted light to moderate rain accompanied by temporary gusty wind at most places over Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions, at many places over Rangpur, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions and at one or two places over Khulna, Barishal and Chattogram divisions with moderately heavy to heavy rain today.
Sylhet is part of the haor region, geographically a land depression at the feet of an extensive mountain range, home to the world鈥檚 wettest place Cherrapunji in Meghalaya.
Flash flood used to be over in hours or maximum a day. But the ongoing flash flood continued for six days on Tuesday.
鈥楾he flood is lingering and spreading because rivers drained less water than was added by rain and onrush of water from the upstream,鈥� said Udoy Raihan, the executive engineer of the FFWC.