Week 1 Studio Exercise: Displaced Dwellers

Bangladesh- The Flood of 1988

Bangladesh a country where less than 12m above sea level, and it is believed that about 10% of the land would be flooded if the seas levels were to rise by even 1m. Approximately 75% of Bangladesh is less than 10m above sea level and 80% is flood plain. Despite the widespread developments, the country is still at risk of further widespread in damages in their landscape and society. The flood of 1988 considered to be one of the biggest flood disasters Bangladesh has ever faced. The year of my birth I was told that the water levels were so high they had to evacuate my mother and myself only a few hours after I was born due the hospital being flooded.  Bangladesh, being located at the confluence of several major rivers, suffers from floods almost every year. Major portions of the country are part of the Ganges Delta, the largest flood plain in the world. The flood caused major havoc in Bangladesh throughout history. Especially during the recent years of 1987, 1988 and 1998.

People lost everything from family members to their home, food, animals, etc.
Source Link: http://dailytheology.org/2013/09/27/the-moral-imperative-to-act-for-climate-justice/

Only house to be seen for miles, a few animals find shelter around this house which was in one of the high grounds that merely survived the water from breaching its wall.
Source Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/world/asia/05flood.html?_r=0

 

Most of the country was under water for a month and Dhaka the capital was completely immobilized for a least 2 weeks.
Source Link: http://dailytheology.org/2013/09/27/the-moral-imperative-to-act-for-climate-justice

Aftermath 

To further increase the risk of flooding, Bangladesh is a frequent receiver of cyclones. These fierce winds create chaos in the water, and often destroy banks and dams. Since Bangladesh is adjacent to warm ocean, cyclones are a common occurrence. 

There is not enough land in Bangladesh, especially with the number of people that are farmers, so people take whatever land they can get, including slopes.  The soil that is being eroded then reduces the depths of the rivers, making them easily flooded. A foot deep river can become a twenty feet deep flood. The flood of 1988 as its known resulted in over 1 million people losing their homes, over 1000 people were killed and millions were made homeless. As the waters drained away, brown fields of rotting crops, villages buried in sand and silt,and wrecked roads and bridges were left behind.  The floods cost the country almost 1 billion dollars.