Map of affected areas and HF disaster response
UPDATES
1st January 2008 Summary Report
Canadian MP: Int'l Community Should Come Up With More Aid
30 November 2007 - Efforts in Rangabali Accelerate
27 November 2007 - HF allocated Rangabali
Government Assessment Report on Cyclone
23 November 2007 - HF Team mobilises in Barisal
17th November 2007 Update
HF Response to Sidr
Following the catastrophic category IV cyclone Sidr that struck the southern coast of Bangladesh on the 15th November 2007, over 5,000 people were killed or missing, over 34,000 injured, and millions were without shelter or food. Livelihoods were also destroyed as almost half a million heads of livestock were killed, and almost the entire areas rice crop and shrimp farms were washed away.
Humanity First sent in a local assessment team within hours from Dhaka and Chittagong, and after consultation with local authorities, were soon allocated the island of Rangabali with a population of 100,000. The authorities kindly provided the Forestry Commission building as a base for HF to work from. Over the next two weeks, HF were able to provide food, water, supplies and medical assistance.
 
A team of doctors from Asia and North America dealt with 1,050 medical cases, though thankfully the fear of the spread of water-borne diseases did not materialise. Food packs and hot meals were distributed to 16,050 people, and thousands of packs of sanitary items and utensils were also distributed to remote areas on the island. 48,000 litres of bottle water was also distributed. This took time as the road infrastructure was not ideal, and access to other villages was through motor launches. In total, HF had 150 volunteers working around the clock on the ground.
 
Finally, in order to help the villagers get back on their own feet, 330 water treatment units were distributed which will help them produce safe water locally for months without reliance on battled water. The roofs of two local schools were repaired to allow the education process to begin again. The emphasis has now shifted to a rehabilitation phase, and HF are reviewing a number of candidate projects around education and health with local authorities.
We would like to thank all of our donors who have helped the people of Bangladesh, and ask for one final push to help us deliver the rehabilitation projects.
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30 November 2007 - Efforts in Rangabali Accelerate
Since setting up operations over a week ago at the Forestry Research Institute on the island of Rangabali, 40km south of Pautakhali, the Humanity First team on the ground have been able to provide a range of services to the local population including food, water, medical assistance and shelter.
Whilst the base camp was established, a small team took a five hour trip on a motor launch to the remote parts of the island and were able to distribute essential supplies to thousands of the islanders including 13,000 2-litre bottles of clean drinking water. Also, water filtering boxes with treatment tablets have been distributed to provide sustainable safe drinking water.
Back at the Forestry building, the medical team set up immediately and have been seeing 150 patients a day for a range of ailments over the last week. A soup kitchen was set up and is serving 2 hot meals a day for thousands of locals.
In addition, family packs containing rice, lentils, potatoes, oil, onions and other essentials have been distributed to over 5,000 people. Finally, the HF team got hold of corrugated metal sheets and were able to repair the roofs of the local Primary and Secondary schools, so now education of the children can start getting back to normal.
This project is expected to last at least 6 weeks, so further funds are urgently needed.
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27 November 2007 - HF allocated Rangabali
Humanity First has been allocated the area of Rangabali, 40 km south of Patuakhali to provide a range of services to the stricken population. HF is working closely with local authorities in Bangladesh and other agencies. Services now being provided include:
- medical assistance for trauma, minor injuries and disease prevention
- hot meals twice daily initially for 1200 people
- distribution of family packs to 5000 people consisting of rice, lentils, oil, salt, candles and matches
- distribution of 20,000 2 litre bottles of safe drinking water
In the longer-term, Humanity First are also planning the distribution of warm clothing, and corrugated metal to support temporary shelters. More updates will follow, but donations are needed to grow the coverage of the services.
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23 November 2007 - HF Team mobilises in Barisal
A small team of experts from HF Canada has joined local volunteers to accelerate the relief efforts in Barisal Division following Cyclone Sidr devastated Bangladesh a week earlier.
Latest Government reports show 3,033 confirmed dead, 1,821 missing, 34,511 injured and a total of 6.77 million affected over 31 districts. The worst affected districts were Barguna, Bagerhat, Patuakhali and Pirojpur.
Humanity First have already been doing work locally, but are now co-ordinating a larger effort with dedicated camps in consultation with the Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management, and other agencies such as BRAC and the UN. HF have been allocated certain remote areas in Barisal and are working with local authorities around logistics and security while we try to assist an increasingly desperate population. At this stage, we need greater funds, but all procurement is being done in Dhaka were supplies are readily and cheaply available.
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17th November 2007
Cyclone Sidr hit the southern coast of Bangladesh late on Thursday evening killing over 2000 people and displacing over 500,000 according to our local team. The storm surges reached over 4 feet driven by winds of 150 mph. Much of the rice crops were wiped out and there was widespread damage to homes, power and communications.
Humanity First teams on the ground were able to talk to survivors in Barisal District in the first two hours after the tragedy when mobile phones were supported by emergency power, but since then, there has been a blackout. HF has sent water launches from Dhaka and Chittagong.
We anticipate most help being needed in coastal villages around Barguna and Patuakhali. We will post more details after the assessment, but based on initial reports, HF are planning to set up soup kitchens and also provide basic medical assistance to purify water and protect people from water-borne diseases such as Cholera and Typhoid.
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