CARE responds to Cylcone Sidr in Bangladesh

CARE has met the needs of 50,000 families in the first phase of our emergency response to the damage caused by the 155mph winds and heavy rains.

From our emergency operations in Khulna, in south western Bangladesh, CARE is  distributing emergency food rations and supplies. We have moved several mobile water purification plants capable of producing more than 2,600 gallons of safe drinking water per day, which will be crucial toward preventing disease outbreaks. We are also moving 15 pumps into the area to drain polluted seawater before it causes further damage to soil and crops which have been devastated just as they were about to be harvested.

As the floodwaters recede, there is considerable danger of disease due to lack of clean water and adequate sanitation. CARE is working with United Nations agencies and other non-governmental organizations to establish how many people have been affected and how we can best help them.

CARE seeks to raise a total of £2.5million to fund our emergency response for tens of thousands of families into the New Year. Please give generously.

In coming weeks, we plan to hand out relief packages that contain a 21-day ration of food and non-food items, including blankets, clothing, cooking utensils, soap, plastic buckets, jerry cans, female sanitation items, rice, molasses, lentils (dahl), potatoes, salt and oil.

In the longer term, our emergency response will focus on helping the most vulnerable and poor families to rebuild their lives. Cyclone Sidr hit some of those least able to cope with it – up to 95 per cent of their rice harvest has been lost and shrimp farms have been washed away. Thousands of people have been left with no shelter, ruined crops that were just about to be harvested, and are largely deprived of possibilities to earn an income.

CARE’s partners worked with police, military and the government to evacuate as many people as possible before the storm hit, moving over a million people in low-lying coastal areas to shelters, schools and other safe buildings. Despite these efforts, many are still missing, and there is concern that many people in inaccessible areas may have been wounded during the storm, and could be in need of medical assistance.