BANGLADESH NEWS
DHAKA: Days of rain in four districts of the country, some of the heaviest in years, have set off flash floods stranding about 200,000, police and officials said on Wednesday.
Disaster control officials said about 150,000 people had been marooned by the floods in southeast districts of the country while 50,000 were marooned in Sylhet.
Hundreds of homes have been washed away, while authorities moved hundreds of families from shanty housing and told others to leave quickly.
Agriculture officials said it was too early to estimate crop damage. "In flash floods, water recedes soon after the rain stops, So we don`t anticipate any major damage to rice and other crops," one official said.
Most road and rail links between Chittagong and the rest of the country were suspended late on Tuesday, while Chittagong airport was closed after water inundated part of the runway.
Five days of rain had beset wide areas near the border with Myanmar and India, with the weather office recording 463 mm (18.2 inches) in Chittagong over the past 24 hours.
"We are having the worst rainfall in many years," said Jainul Bari, district commissioner for Cox`s Bazar.
In Sylhet, houses stood up to three feet (one meter) under water, with residents perched on boats or scrambling to high ground. Three children were reported killed.
Flooding also hit districts northwest of the capital.
Weather officials said more heavy rain was expected in the next few days.
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