Photo Feature

Eight photographers from around the country give their personal takes on the recent floods

Days of almost unrelenting monsoon rain triggered some of the worst floods Bangladesh had seen for over a decade. The waters swept two-thirds of the country for nearly three weeks and left devastation in its wake, with loss of lives, homes and farmlands.

The north of the country was overwhelmed. The people of remoter districts, such as Kurigram, were completely cut off from the rest of the country. The Jamuna , like other major rivers, rose 125 cm above the danger level inundating the town of Sirajganj. The river's char islands and the people who lived on them simply disappeared. As the floodwaters rolled down river to the sea the big cities, Dhaka then Chittagong, were hit hard. ICDDRB saw record numbers of patients crowding their cholera hospital.

Almost 6 million people were made homeless after their houses, villages and towns were inundated. Around 30,000 km of roads were washed away, stranding millions more. Crops on 1.5 million acres were swept away, including over 100,000 tonnes of rice waiting to be harvested.

The official flood-related death toll Topped 700