Oxfam is reaching communities in Bangladesh hit by Cyclone Roanu.
Oxfam’s local partners have already reached Chittagong, taking emergency life-saving kits and equipment. The agency is assessing the scale of the crisis and how best it can provide further help. More Oxfam aid workers are on standby as the situation develops.
Oxfam has enough contingency stock materials in country to reach up to 2,000 families with hygiene kits and tarpaulin for temporary shelters. The initial cost of its emergency response is estimated to be $290,000.
Cyclone Roanu hit most of the coast of Bangladesh with gusts reaching between 38 and 54 miles per hour with very heavy rain. Flood defenses were damaged and overrun, villages are flooded, and many roads waterlogged. People have lost their homes, crops, stock and thousands have been evacuated to cyclone centers. According to the Bangladeshi Government, over 140,000 families have been affected so far.
