Ten striking photos from the Bangladesh flood emergency
BRAC’s first responders are providing families in Bangladesh with urgent flood relief. See the flood emergency through their lenses.
Date:
20 Aug 2024
Reading time:
3 minutes
Author:
Sarah Allen
In Bangladesh, the worst flooding in three decades has claimed at least 27 lives, and left 5.6 million people in dire need of help.
BRAC has launched a comprehensive response, sending a team of 5,000 first responders to support families in urgent need of help. See the flood emergency up close, through the eyes of BRAC’s dedicated frontline staff, through these ten striking photos.
1. A family pushes a makeshift raft through the water
BRAC
August 25, 2024: Two men guide a makeshift raft carrying two women and a child through neck-deep water in Fulgazi, Feni. This is just one of the 1.2 million families left stranded by Bangladesh’s worst flood in three decades.
2. Flood victims shelter on a rooftop
BRAC
August 24, 2024: Dozens of people affected by flooding in Bangladesh look out from the rooftop of a multi-story building as rising floodwaters trap them from below and ominous skies linger above.
3. A man wades through chest-deep water to deliver critical supplies
BRAC
August 24, 2024: A BRAC frontline staff member wears a life jacket as he wades through chest-deep water to deliver aid supplies to families affected by the floods. BRAC teams are delivering critical food, baby food, drinking water, health and hygiene products, and livestock feed to families in need of urgent support.
4. A team travels through floodwaters by boat
BRAC
August 25, 2024: In Sreemangal Upazila, within the Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh, a team of BRAC staff travel by row boat to reach families in need of aid. BRAC teams are traveling by boats, tractors, and trucks to reach people who need the most help, wading door-to-door or floating rooftop-to-rooftop to deliver support.
5. Boat travelers pass a nearly submerged tuk-tuk
BRAC
August 23, 2024: A team carrying aid packages travels by boat down a flooded street, passing a nearly submerged tuk-tuk and passersby wading through chest-deep water. As flooding ruins roadways like this one, many communities are entirely cut off from aid, which is why it’s critical for BRAC teams to use all forms of transportation to reach families.
6. BRAC staff delivers foot kits in flooded alley
BRAC
August 25, 2024: A BRAC staff member walks through an alley flooded with shin-deep water to deliver food kits to local families in Muradnagar Upazila, Comilla. Many families have remained in homes with knee-deep water.
7. BRAC team works around the clock to deliver aid
BRAC
August 23, 2024: A BRAC staff member travels by boat after dark to reach families affected by flooding. During emergencies like this one, BRAC teams work around the clock to deliver aid to families in need: ensuring that they can reach as many families as possible with lifesaving support.
8. Child seen by health worker amid flood emergency
BRAC
August 27, 2024: A health worker sees a young patient affected by the flooding. BRAC has deployed seven medical teams, including seven medical officers and 21 paramedics. Working across five severely affected districts, these teams are providing urgent health care services, delivering care for people with injuries and infections — with a particular focus on caring for children who fall ill from exposure to the flood.
9. A BRAC team trudges through the mud with aid supplies
BRAC
August 26, 2024: A BRAC team trudges through the mud in flood-stricken Chittagong, Bangladesh to deliver aid packages containing food and supplies to victims of the emergency. BRAC has launched a rapid needs assessment to ensure that efforts are reaching those who need it most.
10. A BRAC team delivers dry food in Comilla
BRAC
August 25, 2024: Rima Akter, a BRAC staff member, delivers a dry food kit to a flood victim in Nangalkot, Comilla. In addition to delivering aid, to keep communities informed, frontline staff like Rima share life-saving awareness messages, and BRAC has also broadcast these messages to the wider public through three community radio stations.
