Heavy Rain Causes Alarm in Flood-Hit Sunamganj

Heavy rainfall over the past few days has caused panic among the residents of Sunamganj as water levels have yet to drop in flood-affected areas. 

It rained incessantly through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning in the district. The Met Office said that the rain could continue. The Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya, upstream from Sunamganj, are also seeing heavy rainfall.

Although some flood victims have left the shelters and gone home, public and private relief work is still in full swing due to the shortage of clean drinking water and food. Many are still residing in shelters as flood waters have not receded.

Anisur Rahman, assistant meteorologist at Sylhet Met Office, said, "Rainfall was already forecast for Tuesday. It will continue to rain tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”

"It is raining upstream too. However, the rainfall is not as heavy and incessant as it was before. The rains will gradually decrease from the start of next month.”

Sunamganj Water Development Board Executive Engineer Md Zahirul Islam said, “It is raining heavily in India’s Meghalaya and Assam. The water levels have risen as a result. If the rains continue, the levels may rise further.”

The water levels of the Surma River, at both Sunamganj and Sholghar points have risen from 7.44 metres to 7.66 metres in the last 48 hours. The water is still 14 centimetres below the danger line.