

Survivors of a powerful cyclone that devastated Bangladesh and killed more than 2,500 people grieved and buried their loved ones Monday as they waited for aid to arrive.
A huge rescue operation is continuing in Bangladesh following the devastating cyclone. It's now estimated that thousands of people died when the storm flattened houses, uprooted trees and forced residents from their homes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f-32v7NNT0
URGENT APPEAL for Bangladesh Cyclone victims
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has confirmed 700 people are known to have died.
The cyclone struck two days ago with winds reaching more than 150 kms per hour, and the death toll is expected to rise to thousands.
The UNOCHA said the fate of several thousand fishermen in canals and inlets of small islands south of Bangladesh are not known.
Aljazeera news
Bangladesh races to save storm survivors
At least 243 people have been reported dead after a powerful cyclone ripped through Bangladesh, wiping out homes and forcing thousands to flee.
CNN
Survivors grieve for cyclone dead
PATUAKHALI, Bangladesh (CNN) -- Survivors of a storm that killed more than 3,000 people in the impoverished nation of Bangladesh grieved and buried their loved ones Monday as they waited for aid to arrive.
Women and children rest near an uprooted shop in a southern coastal area of Bangladesh.
The number of dead killed from Cyclone Sidr -- now at 3,114 -- is expected to rise yet further as the South Asian nation continues to assess the damage.
The Bangladesh Red Crescent fears the death toll could be 5,000 -- perhaps even reaching as high as 10,000.
In the fishing village of Galachipa, in Patuakhali district, Dhalan Mridha was grieving for family members who died in the cyclone after ignoring an alert issued by authorities.
"Nothing is going to happen. That was our first thought and we went to bed. Just before midnight the winds came like hundreds of demons. Our small hut was swept away like a piece of paper, and we all ran for shelter," Mridha, a 45-year-old farm worker, told The Associated Press.
On the way to a shelter, Mridha lost contact with his wife, mother and two children. The next morning he found their bodies.
The Category 4 cyclone raked Bangladesh's southwest coast on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 241 km/h (150 mph), destroying fishermen's hamlets and villages.
Thousands are still missing, while an estimated 280,000 others are unable to return to their homes which were wiped out by the storm. Many grieving families are now burying loved ones in single graves as no male members are available to dig them.
Most houses in the region are made of flimsy materials such as bamboo and corrugated iron, and had no chance of withstanding the storm's powerful winds.
In addition, the storm-struck area is criss-crossed by a huge river delta which surged as Sidr pushed through, wiping out many villages and littering the river's shores with debris.BBC
Many people are thought to have been killed as falling trees levelled fragile houses made of thatch, wood and tin.
Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated and many sought refuge in emergency shelters like this one near Mongla port, around 320km (199 miles) south of Dhaka.
Elephants helped remove fallen trees that blocked roads across the country, frustrating attempts by the authorities to reach stricken areas.
Many killed in Bangladesh cyclone | |||||
A big cyclone has devastated Bangladesh in southern Asia, killing more than 600 people and leaving thousands homeless. Tropical Cyclone Sidr ripped through coastal towns, flattening villages and uprooting trees in its path. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes, as winds as strong as 240kph hit the country on Thursday night. Officials warned waves 3m high could still slam into the coast but the worst of the storm is now over.
Thousands of people in the area have been moved to safety in special government-built cyclone shelters. Powerful storm
Strong winds also battered the capital city Dhaka, shaking buildings and roofs during the night and cutting off power and water supplies. Food, medicine, tents and blankets are being sent to help people who have been affected by the storm. Southern Bangladesh is often hit by cyclones, but experts say this one is the most powerful so far in the season.
Storm historyAn area of persistent cloudiness, in part due to the monsoon trough, developed into a tropical depression on April 22 in the Bay of Bengal. The wind speed and overall size increased, with the depression becoming Tropical Storm 02B on the 24th. The entire wind field at the time encompassed nearly the entire Bay. The tropical storm continued slowly northwestward, slowly strengthening to a cyclone-strength storm on the 27th. The cyclone moved between a high pressure system to its northwest and east, and as mid-level westerlies met up with the storm, the cyclone moved northeastward. The westerlies enhanced upper level outflow, and in combination with warm water temperatures the cyclone steadily strengthened to a major hurricane on the 28th. On the 28th and 29th, as the system increased its speed to the north-northeast, the cyclone rapidly intensified to a 160 mph Cyclone, the equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane. Late on the 29th, Cyclone 02B made landfall a short distance south of Chittagong as a slightly weaker 155 mph Category 4 Cyclone. The storm rapidly weakened over land, and dissipated on the 30th over southeast Asia. ImpactFatalitiesAt least 138,000 people were killed by the storm, with the majority of deaths in the Chittagong area. Most deaths were from drowning, with the highest mortality among children and the elderly. Although cyclone shelters had been built after the 1970 Bhola cyclone, many had just a few hours of warning and did not know where to go for shelter. Others who knew about the storm refused tovacuate because they did not believe the storm would be as bad as forecasted. Even so it is estimated over 2 million people did evacuate from the most dangerous areas, possibly mitigating the disaster substantially.An elephant pushes a bus to clear a road in Barishal, 12 ... More Stories November 17, 2007 Bangladesh Cyclone Death Toll GrowsThe death toll from the cyclone that hit Bangladesh has risen to 2,600.This girl has lost her home to Sidr But aid agencies warn that the number of dead could reach 15,000. The country's government has declared the disaster "a national calamity". Military ships and helicopters are trying to reach thousands of people believed to be stranded on islands in the Bay of Bengal and along coastal areas still cut off by the storm. "It will take several days to complete the search and know the actual casualty figure and extent of damage to property," said food and disaster ministry official Ayub Miah. Britain is to give £2.5m in aid to Bangladesh to help the victims. AdvertisementTens of thousands of people are in need of food, drinking water and shelter after the storm, which was the worst to hit Bangladesh since 1991, when nearly 143,000 people died. Cyclone Sidr smashed into the country's southern coastline with 155mph winds that whipped up a 16-foot tidal surge. Most of the deaths were caused by the surge washing away homes and strong winds blowing down buildings. Many people drowned or were lost at sea. Red Crescent officials said some 1,000 fishermen and about 150 boats were still unaccounted for in the Bay of Bengal. Fishermen picked up by a trawler said they saw dozens of bodies floating in the waters near the Sundarban mangrove forest. Bookmark this page (what is this?)Social bookmarking allows users to save and categorise a personal collection of bookmarks and share them with others. This is different to using your own browser bookmarks which are available using the menus within your web browser. Use the links below to share this article on the social bookmarking site of your choice. Read more about social bookmarking at Wikipedia - Social Bookmarking Cyclone Sidr: Hundreds Still MissingA huge rescue operation is continuing in Bangladesh following the devastating cyclone. It's now estimated that thousands of people died when the storm flattened houses, uprooted trees and forced residents from their homes. Sky's Robin Powell reports. | |