Bangladesh Cyclone Toll Continues Rising

The death toll from the Bangladesh cyclone continues to rise, to at least 3,100, despite the fact that many were saved by disaster preparedness measures over the past few years.

This disaster is over a wide area, and more than 200,000 homes were destroyed by the storm surge and winds which topped 155 mph. Crops were devastated and potable water and food are in short supply. Disease outbreaks are also a major concern.

More countries have come forward to provide assistance and pledge aid.

Adviser of the Food and Disaster Ministry Tapan Chowdhury told reporters on Monday afternoon that the donor countries and agencies so far pledged emergency aid of 140 million U.S. dollars.

The Chinese government has decided to donate one million U.S. dollars of emergency assistance to Bangladesh for the relief and rehabilitation activities.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zheng Qingdian informed this when he met with the Foreign Adviser of the Bangladesh caretaker government Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury here Monday.

According to the reports by private news agency UNB Monday, the Saudi government has announced a grant of 100 million U.S. dollars in relief assistance for Bangladesh's cyclone victims.

The Saudi government has also decided to send 300 tons of food and relief materials to Bangladesh.

The Australian government has announced it will provide 180 million taka (2.6 million U.S. dollars) for emergency relief and recovery efforts in Bangladesh. The relief goods include safe water, sanitation facilities and non-food items such as clothes and blankets.

Japan is providing emergency assistance of 21.3 million taka (about 305,000 U.S. dollars) for Bangladesh's cyclone victims. The first consignment of the emergency aid will arrive here on Tuesday.

The Swiss government and charities are also sending immediate aid to the survivors of the cyclone in Bangladesh. The aid, valued at 850,000 Swiss francs (about 760,000 U.S. dollars), will go in part to support efforts by the local Red Crescent Society to provide those in need with food packets, drinking water and medicine.

Besides, the United Nations Development Program, the UNICEF, European Commission, Germany, the UK government, the United States Agency for International Development, the Islamic Relief-UK and Spain earlier pledged to provide about 30 million U.S. dollars.

The Saudis have so far been the largest donor of aid, although how much of that amount has actually reached the country isn't clear.

The US aid includes providing logistical airlift support from the two amphibious assault ships tasked for humanitarian relief efforts. Those efforts await the approval of the Bangladeshi government before proceeding.

Some Bangladeshis are criticizing the government's metereologists for not providing useful warnings.

Bangladesh adopts a 10 point storm severity signal system, with 1 being raised for even a small storm and 10 saved for all but the most severe. The international Tropical Storm Tracker uses a five point scale, with 5 being the most severe.

Alamgir Kabir, captain of St. Vincent-flagged Ashrar E Mostafa, told Reuters that they were caught off guard when Bangladesh officials raised the signal directly from 4 to 9 in a matter of hours.

"That initially confused men on merchant ships in the Bay of Bengal," he said.

Had they raised the signal gradually, he said, it would have been easier for sailors to make preparations.

As the warning signal was raised, Chittagong Port ordered all vessels to leave their berths and move to outer anchorages.