Second, the 1998 flood has displayed certain additional alarming characteristics. One of these is the unusually slow pace of floodwater recession. This is sure to make things worse; the slow recession may leave farmers with little time to replant their aman crop, and so may result in unusually high crop loss
What is the reason for this outcome? Why the flood-control strategy has not prevented flood, has not enabled Bangladesh to cope with flood, and has aggravated and created new problems
In the Flood of 1998 1 in 3 people in the city died, in the whole of Bangladesh 140, 00 people died.
The monsoon was picked up on sensors in the sea, but the monsoon moved quicker that expected, and no one expected it to be so strong.
As with all severe weather conditions, a general warning was issued on the radio. As not all residents do not have a radio, people went about with loud speakers spreading the news.
A tidal surge broke through the embankment, which had not been built to withstand such forces.
Why was it so strong hitting Bangladesh? This is simple, because Bangladesh is at the base of to shore lines and it is the end of the coast. So the wind cyclones are funnelled towards the area, they had not seen such terrific cyclones in 30 years.
There was a small cyclone centre to people ratio, and so not all the residents could fit into the shelter. To make matters worse, people brought along all of their positions, which mend there was even less room.
Because of this many people stayed at home. The monsoon tidal wave went through houses, killing many and sweeping people out to sea. When warm air rises, it produces energy. And as the world spins the air spins up in a vortex of up to 200mph. This surge of energy rages around a focal point, the eye of the storm, where the wind speeds are much less.
The vortex picked up a lot of energy as it went above sea, but on coming into land, into Bangladesh, it lost a lot of it’s energy until it turned to nothing.
Why would people choose to live here? People live here because, it is the only place they can make a living. Many people work in the shrimp farms, the young people will collect the baby shrimps. These will grow in salt farms; these will be peeled and sold in the west.
Fishing is the only thing he people can do, and so they must stay in Bangladesh.
What measures have been made after the horrific monsoon?
The banks have been reinforced, people are being taught how they can help cope with the monsoons and that they should use the shelters, as a lot of families think that both sexes shouldn’t mix if not married.
With the new teachings and preparations, an incident of this magnitude shouldn’t happen.
By George Barlow