Sufferings of people living in Sylhet division is not going to end soon as the water level will continue to rise for next three days and the flood situation will prevail at least for seven days, according to weathermen.

Residents of Chhatak, Bishwambarpur, Tahirpur and Dowarabazar upazilas of Sunamganj and Companiganj, Gowainghat upazilas of Sylhet, including the city corporation areas, are badly affected due to the ongoing heavy rain and flood.

A group of 21 students of Dhaka University, who went to Sunamganj on a tour, were stranded there due to the sudden flood.

Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has regretted suspending power supply to Sunamganj district and adjoining areas.

People in Sylhet and Sunamganj have been experiencing a power outage since yesterday (June 16, 2022) following heavy floods caused by upstream water and heavy rainfall in the districts.

The authorities of Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST) have postponed all classes and exams till June 25 after some parts of the campus were inundated due to the ongoing floods.

Worsening floods in Sunamganj and Sylhet districts have resulted in power outages, closure of many schools as they have been turned into makeshift flood shelters, and vast areas being inundated, with locals saying the flood is worse than the ones they experienced in 1998 and 2004.  

Members of Bangladesh Army have been deployed to manage the heavy flooding and its aftermath in Sylhet and Sunamganj.

Vast areas of Sunamganj, Sylhet, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat are under water as bordering rivers have swelled due to heavy rain upstream Assam and Meghalaya.

The flood situation in Sylhet and Sunamganj has worsened for excessive torrential rain in the districts and India’s Meghalaya and Assam.

About 35,000 people of 49 villages in Kurigram’s Roumari have been suffering from shortage of drinking water and food since flood hit the upazila on June 11.

Low lying areas in Sirajganj and adjoining Chalanbeel have been flooded as water level is rising in the Jamuna river along with Fulzore, Kortoa, Boral and other connective rivers of the district.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 struck the Peru-Brazil border region on Tuesday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

Four members of a joint family, including a child, were dead in a landslide in Jaintapur upazila of Sylhet.

All rivers of the upper Meghna basin yesterday started flowing below the danger level at all points for the first time in 13 days in Sylhet and Sunamganj.

As all rivers except the Surma were reportedly flowing below the danger level yesterday afternoon, the authorities are now prioritising repairing the damaged roads and restoring communication.

Over 1.5 million children are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to extensive flooding in north-eastern Bangladesh, said Unicef Bangladesh in a statement yesterday.

Over the decade, Bangladesh has earned the name of a role model in disaster management despite being one of the most disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable countries.

Over 1.5 million children are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to extensive flooding in north-eastern Bangladesh, said Unicef Bangladesh in a statement today.

With the water levels of the Surma and Kushiyara rivers slowly receding, the damning impacts of the floods in Sylhet and Sunamganj has become more visible.