The flash flood that recently ripped through eastern, south-eastern and north-eastern Bangladesh busted a myth crafted by the immediate past autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina that Bangladesh is a world champion in disaster management.
The flood rather revealed that the country lacks a proper flood forecasting mechanism and the basic infrastructure needed to carry out rescue and relief operations during the disaster, the most common form of natural hazard in the country.
Just a day before the furious flood hit, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center issued a warning for 10 days, assuring people that the chance of a flood occurring during the period in the north-eastern region was very slim.
The forecast omitted giving any forecast about the eastern region while saying that major rivers in the south-eastern hill basin might rapidly rise for a brief period.
The forecast came on August 18 amidst weather forecasts that a spell of heavy rain was likely because of the influence of a low.
The deadly flash flood hit the north-eastern district Feni on August 19, spreading like a wildfire over the next few days, lifting rivers such as Khowai in the north-east, Gumti in the east and Muhuri in the south-east to their historical heights, displacing five lakh people as the number of flood-affected people rose to 57 lakh.
鈥榃e don鈥檛 have the capacity for flood forecast for the eastern and south-eastern regions,鈥� said flood forecasting centre鈥檚 executive engineer Sarder Udoy Raihan.
The centre鈥檚 officials said that a project to develop a flood modelling for the two regions ran since 2016, but the model was not complete until today.
India arbitrarily withholding and releasing water and not sharing any information regarding its decision to open and close the gates of its barrages and dams added to the many difficulties the flood forecasting centre faces in performing its job.
India reportedly opened the gates at the Dumboor hydroelectric project further deteriorating the flood situation in the Gumti basin.
鈥楾his is a shame that the past government failed to get India to share such crucial information the lack of which causes disaster,鈥� said Tuhin Wadud, director, Riverine People, a non-governmental think tank.
An interim government is in power in Bangladesh since August 8, after the ouster of autocrat Hasina, who frequently boasted warm friendly relations with India and publicly admitted at least once that India would never forget the benefits it had received from Bangladesh in her tenure.
Triggered by heavy rain, the flood sent a wave of water that rose up to the height of a two-storey building, destroying houses and other infrastructure, standing crops and fish and poultry farms in 11 districts.
The first shortcoming that surfaced after the flood struck was the lack of boats to rescue hundreds of thousands of stranded people, who watched the water level rapidly rise, many ending up in rooftops under open sky amidst ceaseless rain.
鈥楶eople who came to flood shelters did it on their own,鈥� said Muhammad Abed Ali, district relief and rehabilitation officer, Cumilla, adding, 鈥榃e are unable to be of much help for we don鈥檛 have any boats.鈥�
People risked their lives during the journey to flood shelters navigating through a massive onrush of water coming down the hills of the world鈥檚 greatest mountain range the Himalayas.聽聽聽
The flash flood surprised people in the affected areas, particularly in eastern and some of the south-eastern districts, for they rarely see such disasters.
But experts say that the areas have always been vulnerable to flash flooding for they are floodplains sitting at the bottom of very expansive and tall hills, some of which are wettest in the world.
Feni particularly witnessed bouts of flash flooding over the last decade, often twice a year in July and August. The latest flood was the third wave of flash flood that swept Feni.
鈥楾his area has always been flood prone,鈥� said M Inamul Haque, former Bangladesh Water Development Board director general.
But even Feni did not have rescue boats, let alone life jackets.
The lack of boats also seriously hindered the relief operation. Worst hit people received least supply of relief as authorities struggled to reach them.
While the flood raged, the Department of Disaster Management repeatedly assured of having enough emergency responders in the field adding that Cyclone Preparedness Programme volunteers were in the field, which was not true.
The cyclone preparedness programme, however, said that they had volunteers only in three of the 11 coastal districts where it has operations.
The post-flood rebuilding kicked off in many of the affected districts as the flash flood retreated with all rivers dropping below their danger marks.
From their past experience, the affected people knew they did not have much to expect from the government with their rehabilitation.
Many people lost everything in the flood and might never return to the condition they were before, eventually moving to cities with sprawling slums.