"Access to food, safe drinking water, health supplies and sanitation
materials is limited in some villages. Water points have been ruined,
ground water contaminated and agricultural land destroyed."
Tens of thousands need aid after deadly cyclone pounds Bangladesh, Sri Lanka(Reuters)
Tens of thousands of people in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka need aid including clean drinking water, dry food rations and medicines after a deadly cyclone hammered the South Asia region, aid agencies said on Tuesday.
With wind speeds reaching 90 kph (56 mph) and heavy rains, cyclone Roanu
struck Bangladesh on Saturday, after buffeting India and Sri Lanka in
the Bay of Bengal - killing at least 120 people and affecting hundreds
of thousands more in the region.
Aid workers said
Roanu's torrential rains triggered flooding, landslides and tidal surges
mostly in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - ripping apart thousands of rickety
homes, burying entire villages and inundating swathes of farmland.
"Tens
of thousands of poor families will have lost most of their assets - not
just their houses, but also their food stores, seasonal crops and vital
livestock such as cows, goats and ducks," said Shakeb Nabi, Christian Aid's Bangladesh head.
"Access
to food, safe drinking water, health supplies and sanitation materials
is limited in some villages. Water points have been ruined, ground water
contaminated and agricultural land destroyed."
In
Sri Lanka, where more than a week of heavy rains has triggered the
worst flooding in 25 years, the United Nations said it was worried about
the spread of diseases due to large amounts of standing water.
The World Health Organization
said there was an increased risk of vector borne diseases like malaria,
water borne and diarrheal diseases, the bacterial disease
leptospirosis, fungal diseases and acute respiratory infections.
"Prevention measures to combat such diseases are essential," it added.
Roanu
is the first cyclone of the season, which generally lasts from April to
December, with severe storms often causing mass evacuations from
coastal low-lying villages and widespread crop and property damage.
RUSHING IN RELIEF
Aid
agencies in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said they had begun distributing
relief in the worst affected districts and foreign aid had started
arriving in Sri Lanka from countries including India, Pakistan and
Singapore.
Half a million people have had their
lives disrupted in Bangladesh's low-lying coastal areas such as Barisal
and Chittagong, and over 255,000 people are affected in Sri Lankan
districts including Kegalle, Gamapaha and the capital Colombo in the
west.
"We have pre-positioned household
materials and hygiene kits that we can dispatch to affected areas and
distribute to communities in urgent need," said Senait Gebregziabher, country director for Plan International.
"These
materials will be essential as children and families affected by the
cyclone, particularly those forced to leave their homes, will most
likely be seeking food, shelter, basic sanitation and access to clean
water."
Sri Lanka has reported 94 deaths and
107 people missing. Bangladesh said at least 24 people had died and
India reported two deaths.
U.N. emergency
officials said Roanu also brought heavy rains and flooding to coastal
eastern and southern India and western parts of Myanmar, but the impact
was less severe.
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