Dhaka - More than 100 fishermen were feared drowned in the
rough waters of the Bay of Bengal with rising tides setting off flash
floods that hit the coastal belt of southern Bangladesh, rescuers and
local officials said Wednesday.
The high tides caused by a depression in the bay inundated the
low-lying areas of seven coastal districts, leaving hundreds of
people stranded at flooded fishing villages and rice farms.
At least 25 trawlers with nearly 300 fishermen on board capsized
in the giant waves overnight as the sea remained rough, hampering
rescue operations carried out by coast guard sailors and civil
volunteers.
'Over 200 fishermen have survived the gusty winds by swimming to
the seashore or were plucked from the swirling water by local
divers,' said trawler owner Muhammad Alauddin from the southern
Patuakhali district.
Survivors said the trawlers at sea had ignored the warnings of
squalls to take advantage of the peak fishing season.
The Meteorology Office in the capital Dhaka said a well-marked low
depression over the north-west bay and its adjoining areas moved west
north-westwards and intensified into a monsoon depression.
'The depression is lying over southern Bangladesh and the Orissa
coast in India,' said a Met Office bulletin.
Coastal inundation in the worst-hit Patuakhali district left homes
and businesses under 2-metres of sea water forcing tourists to
abandon the exclusive beaches, disaster management officials said.
Tidal waves flooded the southern Khulna region washing away shrimp
enclosures, thatched dwellings and rice growing on an estimated
10,000 hectares of lush lands.
Barguna, a popular fishing port in the south of the country, was
almost deserted because of the evacuation of hundreds of families
from the fragile coast to flood shelters.
Islanders on the windswept coast were asked to abandon their
seashore homes.
Climate experts say the sudden flooding triggered by rising walls
of water wiped out scores of hamlets on the coast.
Operations in the seaports of Chittagong, Mongla and Cox Bazar
were disrupted while tidal waves ripped through at least two river
dams and disrupted traffic on the strategic Kalapara-Kuakata highway
in the south.
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