The death toll from the catastrophic floods in Bangladesh has risen to 71, with millions of people still stranded in devastated regions as the waters slowly recede. The relentless monsoon rains and upstream runoff have wreaked havoc across the country over the past two weeks, impacting approximately five million people.

In the wake of the flooding, over 580,000 families remain marooned in 11 heavily affected districts, facing dire shortages of food, clean water, medicine, and dry clothing. Relief efforts are underway, with nearly 500 medical teams actively providing treatment. The army, air force, navy, and border guards are also contributing to the emergency response.

Authorities are now shifting their focus to combating potential outbreaks of waterborne diseases, which are a common consequence of such disasters. The Directorate General of Health Services reported that almost 5,000 individuals were hospitalized in the past 24 hours due to diarrhoea, skin infections, and snake bites.

The situation in Dhaka, the capital city, has worsened with heavy rainfall on Tuesday causing widespread flooding. Many districts are submerged under knee-deep to waist-high water, leading to significant traffic disruptions as vehicles struggle through waterlogged streets.

The agriculture ministry has assessed that crops worth 33.5 billion taka ($282 million) have been destroyed, impacting more than 1.4 million farmers. The World Bank Institute’s 2015 analysis had already identified 3.5 million people in Bangladesh as at risk from annual river flooding—a risk that has intensified due to the ongoing climate crisis.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has raised alarms about the severe impact on children, estimating that two million minors are at risk from the worst flooding in three decades. UNICEF has launched an urgent appeal for $35 million to supply essential resources to those affected.

“Year after year, the lives of millions of children in Bangladesh are being devastated by floods, heatwaves, and cyclones,”

said Emma Brigham, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh.