Floods in Northwest Bangladesh

In August 2014, Bangladesh was severely affected by heavy monsoon rains that caused extensive flooding and affected almost 3 million people or 629,243 households. In addition, over 30,000 hectares of rice crops were inundated and countless schools were closed. Many affected people had waist deep water in their homes and were forced to take refuge on the roofs of their houses, schools and temporary shelters, alongside their poultry and livestock. As most sanitation facilities were submerged, ground water sources were contaminated, causing a shortage of safe drinking water and threatening water borne diseases, such as diarrhea, and skin infections, etc.