BBaannggllaaddeesshh ffllooooddiinngg PPrroojjeecctt

By Tara and Alex

WWhheenn? ? WWhheerree??

. . . . ..• Bangladesh floods

every year. • The rivers

Brahmaputra and the Ganges overflow during the monsoon period.

• Flooding 20% of the country.

• But in 1998 the rivers flooded 68% of the country.

• In some places for more than 70 days.

• The flood was unpredicted on terms of magnitude and duration.

CCaauusseess • Most of the country is 6m below sea level.• Building on flood plains to house the

growing population, has left less room for flooding.

• Cutting down trees (deforestation) in the upper drainage basin.

• Human causing global warming causes ice to melt and then travel down stream and then causes flooding.

. . . . ..• Most of the country is flood plains.• Monsoon climate occurs during the

warm months so you also get ice coming down from the Himalayas as water in the rivers.

• Silt is being brought down by the rivers and being deposited.

EEffffeeccttss• It caused the death of over a thousand

people.

• Railway, roads and bridges were all swept away.

• Most parts of the country didn’t have electricity for several weeks.

• Due to flood water polluting wells, there was no safe drinking water.

.. .. ..• 7 million homes were destroyed • This left over 25 million people homeless.• It destroyed crops and basic infrastructural

features.• In some places only tops of trees could be

seen.• Hospitals were already full from people

suffering from dysentery and diarrhoea.• But the threat of disease especially

cholera was increasing.

MMaannaaggeemmeenntt SSttrraatteeggiieess

• Bangladesh's low level of economic development means Bangladesh's flood protection is insufficient.

• Following the 1998 floods a number of short term flood relief measures were put in place to try an minimise loss of life - these included:

• international food aid programmes• the distribution of free seed to farmers by the

Bangladesh government to try and reduce the impact of food shortages - the government also gave 350,000 tonnes of cereal to feed people;

• volunteers / aid workers worked to try and repair flood damage.

.. . . ..• Following the 1998 floods a number of short term

flood relief measures were put in place to try an minimise loss of life - these included:

international food aid programmes

• The distribution of free seed to farmers by the Bangladesh government to try and reduce the impact of food shortages - the government also gave 350,000 tonnes of cereal to feed people.

• Volunteers / aid workers worked to try and repair flood damage.

SSoofftt SSttrraatteeggiieess

• People were helped to cope with the floods through:

• Flood warning systems which gave people time to evacuate.

• Flood Proofing, Which is using sandbags to block some water out.

• Insurance which covered the cost of flooding.

• Zoning which prevents new buildings in the area at risk of flooding.

HHaarrdd SSttrraatteeggiieess • To prevent floods they: Built dams in the upper river valley, which

controlled discharge of the river.• Levees that increased the height of river

Banks.• Straightening meanders, increases sped of the

river so flood water moves quickly.• Spillways allows flood water to flood unused

land instead.• A forestation is planting trees to increase

interception and evapotranspiration.

IIssssuueess• Most people think that it is better to use

Soft Management Strategies because they don’t want to waste money on it, especially as Bangladesh is a LED. People also think that it can Hurt the environment.

TThhee DDiiffffeerreenntt MMeetthhooddss:: LLEEDDCC,, MMEEDDCC

LEDC• An LEDC like

Bangladesh hasn’t got very good emergency services.

• Hospitals are not very well equipped either when lots of people are injured let alone one.

MEDC• An MEDC Like

England has really good Emergency services when Natural Disasters happen.

TThhee EEnndd,, TThhaannkk YYoouu

FFoorr LLiisstteenniinngg!!