Ten striking photos from the Bangladesh flood emergency
BRAC’s first responders are providing families in Bangladesh with urgent flood relief. See the flood emergency through their lenses.
In Bangladesh, the worst flooding in three decades has claimed at least 54 lives, and with 5.5 million people still in dire need of help.
BRAC has launched a comprehensive response, deploying local teams of 5,000 first responders to support families in urgent need of help. BRAC’s dedicated frontline staff have been documenting the situation, and their efforts. These ten photos give you a taste of what the people of eastern Bangladesh have endured.
1. A family pushes a makeshift raft through the water
August 25, 2024: Two men guide a makeshift raft carrying two women and a child through neck-deep water in Fulgazi, Feni. This is just one of the 1.2 million families left stranded by Bangladesh’s worst flood in three decades.
2. Flood victims shelter on a rooftop
August 24, 2024: Dozens of people affected by flooding in Bangladesh look out from the rooftop of a multi-story building as rising floodwaters trap them from below and ominous skies linger above.
3. A man wades through chest-deep water to deliver critical supplies
August 24, 2024: A BRAC frontline staff member wears a life jacket as he wades through chest-deep water to deliver aid supplies to families affected by the floods. BRAC teams are delivering critical food, baby food, drinking water, health and hygiene products, and livestock feed to families in need of urgent support.
4. A team travels through floodwaters by boat
August 25, 2024: In Sreemangal Upazila, within the Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh, a team of BRAC staff travel by row boat to reach families in need of aid. BRAC teams are traveling by boats, tractors, and trucks to reach people who need the most help, wading door-to-door or floating rooftop-to-rooftop to deliver support.
5. Boat travelers pass a nearly submerged tuk-tuk
August 23, 2024: A team carrying aid packages travels by boat down a flooded street, passing a nearly submerged tuk-tuk and passersby wading through chest-deep water. As flooding ruins roadways like this one, many communities are entirely cut off from aid, which is why it’s critical for BRAC teams to use all forms of transportation to reach families.
6. BRAC staff delivers foot kits in flooded alley
August 25, 2024: A BRAC staff member walks through an alley flooded with shin-deep water to deliver food kits to local families in Muradnagar Upazila, Comilla. Many families have remained in homes with knee-deep water.
7. BRAC team works around the clock to deliver aid
August 23, 2024: A BRAC staff member travels by boat after dark to reach families affected by flooding. During emergencies like this one, BRAC teams work around the clock to deliver aid to families in need: ensuring that they can reach as many families as possible with lifesaving support.
8. A health worker examines a child amid the flood emergency
August 27, 2024: A health worker sees a young patient affected by the flooding. BRAC has deployed seven medical teams, including seven medical officers and 21 paramedics. Working across five severely affected districts, these teams are providing urgent health care services, delivering care for people with injuries and infections — with a particular focus on caring for children who fall ill from exposure to the flood.
9. A BRAC team trudges along a muddy path with aid supplies
August 26, 2024: A BRAC team trudges through the mud in flood-stricken Chittagong, Bangladesh to deliver aid packages containing food and supplies to victims of the emergency. BRAC has launched a rapid needs assessment to ensure that efforts are reaching those who need it most.
10. A BRAC team delivers dry food in Comilla
August 25, 2024: Rima Akter, a BRAC staff member, delivers a dry food kit to a flood victim in Nangalkot, Comilla. In addition to delivering aid, to keep communities informed, frontline staff like Rima share life-saving awareness messages, and BRAC has also broadcast these messages to the wider public through three community radio stations.
Bangladesh flood relief: How you can help
With the help of our generous donors, we’re making real progress to support families in need: But the scale of the disaster means that the need for support is far greater.
Your support today can make a significant difference in the lives of families impacted by these devastating floods. Join us in our relief efforts by donating to BRAC’s emergency response fund. (Donors based in Bangladesh can make donations here.)
Every contribution, no matter the amount, can help provide essential supplies and services to the people who need them most.
- $635 will help a family rebuild their house
- $340 will help repair a damaged tube well
- $340 will aid the reconstruction of a latrine
- $20 can support a family’s most basic needs for two weeks
BRAC will stand by these families now, and long after the crisis ends. Your gift will help families gain stability and recover from the long-term impacts of the crisis. BRAC will be by their sides to help as they rebuild their homes, livelihoods, and lives.
The people of Bangladesh are resilient, but they need our help now more than ever. Together, we can ensure families receive the aid they need to rebuild and recover from this catastrophic event.
Sarah Allen is Communications Manager at BRAC USA.
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