Bangladesh Cyclone Sidr

Save the Children had a very unique approach to the cyclone that hit Bangladesh on November 15, 2007. It was one of the few humanitarian agencies with emergency responders already positioned in the path of the storm before it hit, in a remote and low-lying area that was still recovering from extreme flooding in the summer of 2006.

In the days leading up to the storm, Save the Children and the government of Bangladesh activated emergency response committees, coordinating with local and national emergency entities on a response. We dispatched 21 teams to assist in a large-scale evacuation of vulnerable children and families, as nearly three million people were living in the direct path of the storm. Save the Children staff on the ground said that they were hoping for the best, but preparing for a worst-case scenario, and therefore wasted no time in deploying staff and equipment, including rescue boats, food, and water purification resources.

Reports at the end of 2007 from the UN and the government of Bangladesh show that Cyclone Sidr affected 8.9 million people in 31 districts, with 3,347 people killed, 55,282 injured and 871 unaccounted for. The government of Bangladesh estimated that over 1.5 million houses were damaged, while the UN assessments indicate that more than 4,000 educational institutions were totally damaged, with nearly 13,000 more suffering partial damage.

Save the Children's estimates showed that 50 to 90 percent of the region's rice crop was destroyed, leaving up to 3 million people at risk of food shortages over the next six months. Children's health and access to education and families' loss of income were also a focal point. Safe spaces were operating in 5 districts and reaching more than 20,000 children on an average day. Save the Children began community-based educational programmes that operated out of the safe spaces, though they secured funding to help develop these, and have been helping to draft education strategies which were finalised in early 2008.

Since the storm struck Save the Children has distributed thousands of family food packs, blankets, household items, plastic sheeting, water containers, and basic treatment for diarrhoea. We have distributed well over 2.6 million high energy biscuits, provided more than 8.5 million litres of fresh water from water purification plants, and distributed halo tabs for water purification to more than 11,000 families. We have also opened dozens of child friendly spaces for children to gather and play in areas that are safe and supervised.

Bangladesh beneficiaries total more than 250,000 families to date with emergency relief. We are now in the Early Recovery Phase (approximately 3 to 7 months). In this phase, program interventions will support the most vulnerable cyclone-affected children and their families through (when possible) an integrated delivery of services concentrating on the sectors of health and nutrition, food security, child protection, education, transitional shelter and livelihood recovery. Excellent disaster preparedness work by Save the Children and others dramatically reduced the loss of lives. However, destruction of homes, schools, clinics and agricultural land was massive, so the recovery and reconstruction phases are just as important as the immediate relief work