Flooding in Bangladesh

To friends and family back home worried about the news of the flooding, don't worry. We are staying high and dry. But yes, there is severe flooding going in the country, especially in some of the northern districts. And parts of Dhaka near the rivers are getting inundated. Check out this photo taken yesterday--this was taken in South Badda yesterday, a part of Dhaka relatively close to our neighborhood (Banani). Luckily, we are on high ground, and so our area hasn't been flooded. We do live by a lake which has risen significantly, but it hasn't reached the "danger" zone yet. So many people have lost their homes and livelihood due to the flooding. The death toll is going up--from what I've heard, around 40 people died from the flooding last night, and so far around 120 people total have died. The stories of babies and children being whisked away from their mothers in the fast currents are the hardest for me to hear about. If anyone wishes to donate some funds for relief for the flood victims, talk to me and we'll figure out a plan. I know several groups who are working with flood victims and are in desperate need of more funds.

And Yet More Crazy Rain

Ok, so yesterday Dhaka got 4 inches of rain in 6 hours. It was insane. I borrowed this photo from the Daily Star website. This is on Mirpur Road, which is on the way to Azfar's parents' house. This is the same spot we had to drive through on Thursday night when we were trying to get to their house--it was flooded then too. Yesterday, alot of the streets in Dhaka looked more like canals than streets. In front of our apartment, there was at least two feet of water in the road, and we watched cars trying to plow through and getting their engines flooded. I didn't feel brave enough to go through the flooded street to class, so I cancelled my classes yesterday. The thing is that when the street is flooded, you can't see where the potholes are! Many of the streets have huge uncovered potholes and it would really suck if your rickshaw hit one or if you fell into one. So I decided not to chance it. Anyway, there's a cyclone storm over the Bay of Bengal that caused the heavy rain. We're supposed to get more rain like this for the next few days. Today it rained pretty hard, but not like yesterday. The streets are clear again now. Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Monsoon rain and flooded streets

The other day we had some crazy monsoon rain in Dhaka. The streets were flooded. We happened to have quite a dramatic experience this time, because we were trying to get home while the streets were flooded. Our friend was giving us a ride home. There was at least 3 feet of water in the road. And the water started coming into the car--we had about 5 inches of water seeping into the car under our feet! It was quite a scary experience. I was amazed that the engine didn't flood and the car didn't die because at times it felt like we were literally floating down the street instead of driving. Many of the cars around us were dying and the poor drivers were trying to push them out of the street in the massive flood. And when busses went by, they created waves that would wash up against the car. It was like nothing I've ever seen before, although I know flooding like this happens on a regular basis in Bangladesh. Anyway, since my camera has broken, I borrowed a few images of the flooded streets from some other websites. By now the water has gone down and the streets are clear again, but we're supposed to have monsoon rains for the next 5 days, so they may get flooded again.