At least ten people have died and some two million people are isolated due to floods not seen in nearly two decades in northeast Bangladesh, officials said on Saturday.
Floodwaters from northeast India caused a major levee on the Borak River, shared by the two countries, to burst, inundating at least a hundred villages, said Mosharraf Hossain, the region's chief administrator. .
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“
So far, some two million people are stranded by the floods
,” he continued.
Officials said the dyke, located in Zakiganj on the Indian border, can only be repaired when the water level drops.
Many parts of Bangladesh are prone to flooding, and experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events.
“
In my house, we have water up to our waists.
There is no drinking water, we collect rainwater
,” Shamim Ahmed, a bus driver in Zakiganj, told AFP.
"
The rain is both a blessing and a curse for us
."
The floods have reached many neighborhoods in the city of Sylhet, the largest in northeastern Bangladesh, where about 50,000 families have been without electricity for several days, another official told AFP.
