Chattogram Division Flash Floods and Monsoon Rain HCTT Humanitarian Response Plan 2023 (August 2023-January 2024)

The Chattogram Division has been severely impacted by flash floods and monsoon rain, leaving thousands stranded without basic necessities, such as food, clean water, medicine, and electricity. These floods, intensified by persistent heavy rainfall and surging water from upstream, have impacted over one million people, leading to 51 confirmed deaths as of 10 August 2023.

Out of the division's 51 upazilas, 39 are now underwater, causing widespread damage in areas including Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, and Bandarban. The joint assessment conducted in collaboration with the Government identified that 1.3 million people have been affected. Of these, 600,000 are in critical need. It also reported that 213,214 individuals have been displaced, and with the monsoon season still ongoing, further hardships are anticipated. Major rivers in the area have breached their banks, severely hindering transportation and damaging over 410 kilometres of roads. Some of the hardest-hit upazilas in Bandarban District have been affected in recent months by a deterioration of the security situation. Successive travel bans have been issued since October 2022 by the district administration in three upazilas (officially lifted in two of these in July 2023). In this context, constraints to humanitarian access to some of the most remote areas in Rangamati and Bandarban Districts include administrative impediments, lack of communications infrastructures and security.

The flash flood and monsoon rain have witnessed a response from both government and nongovernment entities. The Government, led by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) and implemented by the DMC, has allocated a response fund of $588,785, primarily sourced from Government provisions such as rice, cash, housing grants, and dry food, focusing on districts like Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, and Chattogram. On the other hand, non-governmental organizations, including BDRCS, Action Aid Bangladesh, Oxfam, and others, have garnered a combined response fund of $2,750,822, deploying their efforts across multiple affected districts, each backed by various donors including Swedish Red Cross, USAID, FCDO, and more.