Floods, Landslides in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India Leave At Least 126 Dead, Thousands Homeless

Nick Wiltgen
Published: August 3,2015

At least 126 people are reported dead in three Asian countries in the wake of a monsoon depression that briefly became a tropical cyclone last week, unleashing over 1 meter (3 feet) of rain in parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The heavy rain developed as a slow-moving monsoon depression developed over Bangladesh, then formed into a tropical cyclone over the northern Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, July 29. The cyclonic storm named Komen reached tropical storm strength and moved inland Thursday, July 30. The remnant area of low pressure was centered near the border between India and Bangladesh as of Saturday, then drifted west into central India.
India is the latest country to see deadly impacts from the persistent rainfall. According to India's National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), at least 20 people died when a landslide hit the village of Joumol in the Manipur state of northeast India.
The India Meteorological Department issued heavy rainfall warnings. The states of Manipur, West Bengal and Odisha have been impacted, with roads and highways cut off. The NIDM said 39 people had died in West Bengal due to the flooding, and over 500,000 people were in shelters Sunday.

Observed rainfall amounts, in inches and millimeters, at selected sites in Bangladesh from July 24 through August 2, 2015. This includes rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Komen and the monsoon depression that spawned it.

Even for a region where average July rainfall exceeds 600 millimeters (2 feet), the rains have been exceptional. The coastal city of Chittagong reported more than 800 millimeters (32 inches) of rain in just a three-day period, July 24 through 26.
Much of southeastern Bangladesh saw repeated heavy rainfall on a daily basis. The results were deadly. Five people died in a landslide in Cox's Bazar Monday, July 27, according to the Bangladesh-based Daily Star. Four others were pulled from the mud alive. Two other people drowned in flooding elsewhere in the town of 52,000 residents, the report said. Cox's Bazar reported more than 1 meter (3 feet) of rain during the 10-day period ending Aug. 2, exceeding its already high July monthly average rainfall of 924.6 millimeters (36.40 inches), according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department climate data.
After the depression became Cyclone Komen, additional casualties were reported along the coast of Bangladesh Wednesday.
The Daily Star said a boat capsized in rough seas off Cox's Bazar Wednesday, killing two and leaving six missing. Falling trees were blamed for two deaths, and a boy died when a wall collapsed onto him. The cyclone was also blamed for the death of a newborn who succumbed to respiratory disease while being carried to a cyclone shelter by her parents.
In all, the Daily Star said 21 people died in Cox's Bazar district due to flooding, along with seven more in the Bandarban district.
While official rainfall totals are harder to come by in Myanmar, the effects have been as devastating or worse. At least 39 people are reported dead due to flooding, mainly in western and central parts of that country, according to the United Nations News Centre. Some 17,000 homes had been destroyed as of last Monday from the days-long deluge, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
"Most of the country is flooded now," a director from Myanmar's social welfare ministry told Australia's ABC network, adding that all but one of the country's 14 provinces and regions were impacted by flooding, rising waters and landslides caused by the torrential rains.
According to The Irrawaddy, a news portal covering Myanmar, power is out in several impoverished townships in the western part of the country, and a local leader voiced concern the damage may be heavier than local resources can handle. The BBC reported on Saturday that Myanmar's president declared a state of emergency in four regions due to the flooding.
The monsoonal depression that spawned Komen moved offshore from Bangladesh before strengthening over the Bay of Bengal, but it soon reversed course and moved back toward shore. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the center of Komen made landfall along the coast of southeastern Bangladesh between Hatiya and Sandwip late Thursday afternoon, July 30, local time. (Bangladesh is 10 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Daylight Time.)
Other unrelated storm systems have also unleashed deadly amounts of rainfall across South and Southeast Asia, leaving nearly 200 dead in Nepal, Pakistan and India, and another 17 in Vietnam.
MORE: Flooding Kills Dozens in Myanmar, August 2015