Bangladesh

parts of south Asia flood most years due to

• the monsoon climate -80% of rain falls in 4 months
• much of the land is low lying, in particular bangladesh-where 90% of land is less than 10m above the level.
• melting snow and ice from the Himalayas in late summer months

FLOODS IN JULY AND AUGUST 2007

1) the monsoon came suddenly after a dry early summer.

2)there was heavy rainfall- Assam had a record of 169.5mm in 24 hours on 22nd of July and 900mm in total for july.

3)the long duration of heavy rainfall completely saturated the soil, increasing surface runoff and increasing discharge.

4) the peak discharge of the river ganges and brahmaputra coincided which increased the river discharge downstream.

1) deforestation in Nepal and Himalayas- oess rainfall is intercepted

2) growth or urban areas

3) collapse of old earth dams

1)over 2000 people died.

many people were reluctant to evacuate, children downed as they couldn't swim and poor transport links meant it was hard to evacuate.

2) wells became polluted with sewage leading to a lack of clean drinking water. over 100,000 people caught water borne diseases.

3) 25 million people were made homeless.

4)112000 houses were destroyed in India, as porous mud bricks became saturated by floodwater.

5) Dhaka was inundated, especially the poorer districts and shanty towns near the river.

6)children lost out on education as 4000 schools affected and 44 were destroyed

1) the cost of flooding was estimated at $1 billion(including damage to crops and property)

2) factories were closed due to flood damage and loss of raw materials. mnay of poorest workers became unemployed.

3) There was widespread loss of livestock. 80% of Bangladesh rely on agriculture.

4)550 000km of road were destroyed.

6) debt increased individually and nationally.

1) the flood deposition fertile silt on flood plain.

2) rivers were polluted with sewage.