With Reference to your case study of flooding in a large scale drainage basin, examine the effects of flooding on people, property and the land.

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With Reference to your case study of flooding in a large scale drainage basin, examine the effects of flooding on people, property and the land. (15)

The land of Bangladesh has been formed by the deposition of sediment from three great rivers- the Meghna, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges. 80% of the country occupies on of the largest delta systems in the world and is criss- crossed by thousands of smaller rivers, creeks and canals. In addition 70% of the country is less than 1m above sea level and is therefore under continuous and increasing threat from flooding. In 1998 Bangladesh experienced its worst flood yet and was described as the worst flood of the century. The flood had a devastating effect on the country.

The flood affected the people of the country in different ways. The immediate death toll was relatively low but many more people died due to the effects the floods had on their water and food supply. Overall 1040 people died in the floods this death toll resulted from a number of things as well as people by drowning in the flood waters, the water supplies were contaminated for a quarter of million people because of polluted wells, flooded latrines and floating bodies of people and cattle; the young and elderly were most at risk. The problems increased because of the build up of waste that could not be disposed of while the floodwaters remained. A quarter of million people were affected by cholera and typhoid. Health problems were made worse by people having to live in crowed flood shelters.

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The floods caused 23.5 million people to become homeless with many losing all their belongings. Farmers were especially affected by the floods. 130 million cattle were killed during the floods and the rice crop was also severely affected with one million hectares of cropland destroyed. This affected 2.5 million farmers and due to the loss of the rice crop the food supplies were seriously affected.

Relief efforts were difficult because of the damage to communication links: the main port of Chittagong was closed for weeks, and roads and railways were cut. In total 11 000km of ...

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