In response to the devastating Cyclone Sidr, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) is distributing immediate emergency food aid to affected survivors in Kolapara, Gochipa, Khepupara, and Shwrankhola in Southwest Bangladesh, with plans in motion for two additional phases of response. The powerful storm raked across the river delta coastal area of the country Thursday night, packing winds of more than 150 mph, killing thousands and displacing nearly a million from their homes. While the Bangladeshi people endure an annual storm cycle each year, Cyclone Sidr is thought to be the most severe event in the last decade according to government officials there, with agency reports stating that 10,000 people may have died. The storm affected one-third of Bangladesh’s 64 Districts.
A CRWRC response team has traveled into effected areas of Patuakhali, Bangladesh, to assess damage and collaborate with long-time Bangladeshi partner Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh (LHCB) to implement the response.
“Traveling through the Patuakhali area, our team found many villages that were totally destroyed,” says Jacob Kramer, CRWRC International Relief Director. “CRWRC and LHCB have a strong relief background in this same area from previous cyclone destruction.”
CRWRC’s initial emergency food distribution will be followed by a second phase program of non-food items such as blankets, clothing, cooking utensils and other essentials. The aid will assist survivors with beginning to return to their daily activities. The government of Bangladesh providing temporary shelter for affected families.
CRWRC relief teams on the ground also report that most of the rice crop and other agricultural crops were destroyed. United Nations representatives report that land and crops are 95% destroyed, including rice, shrimp, and other crops washed away by the tidal surge.
Long-term, CRWRC’s mission to the poorest of the poor in Cyclone Sidr response will focus on small farmers and day laborers in rural areas who have lost their livelihoods and subsistence farms to cyclone destruction.
CRWRC is making plans to follow the initial two-phase emergency response with targeted food-and-seed programs that will help farmers restore the agricultural base of the area.
For more information about CRWRC’s Bangladesh cyclone response, call Jacob Kramer, CRWRC International Relief Director, at 1-800-730-3490. For more information about this or CRWRC’s other relief and development programs, call CRWRC Media Contact US Beth DeGraff at 1-800-55-CRWRC. To donate to CRWRC’s Bangladesh cyclone response, give online at www.crwrc.org and designate your gift “Bangladesh Floods 2007.”
by Beth DeGraff
