Cyclone Remal has caused extensive damage on the Noakhali coast. On the island upazila of Hatiya alone, 33,000 families have been affected, 5,000 mud houses destroyed and more than 2,000 head of livestock swept away.

Gusty winds and torrential rain continued from Sunday night (26 May) until Monday evening. Power supply was cut in most of the district for more than 24 hours, causing hardship, and roads were blocked by trees brought down by the wind.

With the river rough, all vessels to and from Hatiya, an island of seven lakh people, have been suspended. Thousands of people are stranded at Hatiya's Chairman Ghat and Tamruddi Ghat areas.

Dinaj Uddin, chairman of Hatiya's Nijhum Dwip union, told Jago News: "Thirty thousand people from 9,000 families in my union are marooned. Fish worth crores of taka have been washed out of more than a hundred ponds and fish enclosures. Around three and a half thousand mud houses have been destroyed. Countless forest deer have been swept away."

Locals said 10,000 people from 4,000 families in Dhalchar are marooned. Seventeen thousand families in Char Ghasiya and 4,000 families in Chanandi union are marooned and living in miserable conditions. Thousands of families living outside the embankments in Harni, Sukhchar, Nalchira, Char King, Char Ishwar, Tamruddi, Sonadia, Burir Char and Jahajmara unions are also marooned, and many homes and shops have been washed away by the waves.

Hatiya Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shubhashish Chakma told Jago News that 33,000 families in different parts of Hatiya have been affected by Cyclone Remal. Crops on 8,000 hectares of land have been completely destroyed, and 2,013 head of livestock died after being swept away by the tidal water.

Mohammad Ali, member of parliament for Noakhali-6 (Hatiya), told Jago News that the people of Hatiya island are living in inhuman conditions and many have lost their homes. One and a half lakh people are marooned, and 60 per cent of the area's 100 kilometres of unpaved roads have been completely destroyed.

He said food and other necessities have been arranged for people in distress, and the matter has been reported in writing to the state minister for disaster management and relief.

Deputy Commissioner Dewan Mahbubur Rahman told Jago News that cash, dry food and rice are in stock to deal with the disaster. As emergency assistance, Tk 16 lakh 47 thousand 500, 319 tonnes of rice, 663 packets of baby food and 8,220 kg of cattle feed have been allocated.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.