Supercyclone Sidr rips thorough Bangladesh

Image courtesy of Alertnet/Reuters

The southern coast of Bangladesh has been devastated by a Supercyclone over the weekend, media reports indicate that over 3,000 people have been killed and according to aid agencies including Plan Bangladesh, an estimated 40% of the fatalities are children. Millions of families have been affected with homes destroyed and livestock wiped out.

The worst affected districts include: Bagerhat, Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Barisal and Jhalakathi.

Currently 171 people sponsor a child in Bangladesh through Plan Ireland, however the sponsored children and their families were not directly affected as Plan's immediate programme areas of Dhaka, Gazipur, Diaper, Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat are not located along the southern coast.

Plan Bangladesh has several local partners working in the worst affected areas and therefore will be providing assistance. An initial assessment has revealed that over 50,000 people are in immediate need food supplies, non - food items like plastic sheeting, kitchen utensils and small cookers. Plan will concentrate support to local partners in Barguna, Barisal and Patuakhali, a map of the affected areas is below: