Bangladesh's devastating floods are the “new normal”
- 103997752
- May 9
- 5 min read
In Bangladesh, severe flooding is becoming increasingly common. As climate change worsens, the country’s low-lying geography and dense population are at the forefront of the climate crisis, suffering devastating and persistent effects. Ruby Alexander reports.
In May 2024, Cyclone Remal made landfall, causing what UNICEF described as the worst major flood in the region in three decades. According to a UNICEF report, the initial cyclone and flood affected 18.4 million people, killing 18 and displacing over 800,000 people.
Similar floods that once struck with intensity every decade now occur every few years. Every time, millions are displaced, poverty grows and living conditions and food security become dire.
The accelerating rate of major flooding has been attributed to global warming, with rising sea levels intensifying rainfall and stormy conditions. Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to these changes as it is almost a basin, sitting only 5 metres above sea level. This makes the land prone to flooding, particularly in the coastal areas.
The country’s geographical location between India and Myanmar creates a channel that funnels in abnormally intense cyclones that bring in heavy rainfall, resulting in severe flooding.
“Flooding in Bangladesh is a new normal,” said Lutfor Rahman, a research officer for the Bangladesh International Centre for Climate Change and Development. "The irregular rainfall patterns we’re seeing today are creating extreme odds for flooding. What used to be a major flood once every ten years now happens every two or three years."
“Around 17% of Bangladesh could be inundated by 2050 due to rising sea levels," he said. "This could displace 35 million people, and Bangladesh is a small country, so accommodating them without help from developed nations will be impossible."
The human cost of the flooding is evident in every displaced family. Many like Minara Begum, a 58-year-old resident of Dhaka's ‘Bhola Basti’, have lived for decades in the slums, battling illness, poverty, and constant threats of eviction.
“I have problems with my lungs, my liver function is bad, my back is injured,” Begum said, “But what choice do we have? There’s no help coming.”
After floods destroyed their rural villages, Millions of people had to migrate to the bigger cities in Bangladesh to find housing and job opportunities. These cities are not prepared to receive such large numbers of climate migrants.
30% of Dhaka's population resides in slums, which are often built in wetlands or low-lying land. The geographical nature and poor construction of the slums leave residents vulnerable when heavy rains hit, waterlogging and drainage failures result in many living in knee-deep water for weeks.
“The urban areas, particularly in the slums, face the worst impact of irregular rainfall,” said Rahman. “The drainage system gets clogged, and the waterlogging worsens. We’re now seeing more frequent flooding in both urban areas and northern regions.”
For people like Begum, life has been a cycle of loss and struggle. She fled her home in Bhola during the 1988 floods, losing everything, and she now survives by selling vegetables in the streets of Dhaka. “We lost everything in the flood,” she recalled. "The water was twelve to fourteen feet high. We had no choice but to come to Dhaka."
As floods become more frequent and sea levels continue to rise, Bangladesh faces the prospect of mass displacement. Rahman points to data that predicts even worse outcomes if global temperatures continue to climb unchecked.
"The flooding will displace millions," he said. "After every major disaster, people migrate to Dhaka, but the city is oversaturated."
With Dhaka's population already topping 23 million, many displaced families are forced to move to secondary cities or live in overcrowded conditions within the slums. After losing everything, these families are often left to fend for themselves with little government or international aid.
“Some NGOs give us relief," Begum said. "we got some things from them. Some days with food, we also received sanitary pads and market bags."
"[but] We don’t get that anymore, [the NGOs] stopped 4 or 5 months ago.”
Some NGOs secure funding to work in certain slums, but there are too many people to help and not enough money coming in, Rahman said.
“If I had a good income, I could live in a good place, I would not have to live with so much fear, I would not have to suffer so many problems with my body”, said Begum. “But I can’t get a lot of money because of physical problems.”
Approximately 33 million people live in Bangladesh's slums. The slums are often built on private land and are a breeding ground for disease because of poor waste management and sanitation.
According to a recent study, it's reported that nearly half of children under five years old show signs of stunted growth. Sharimina, a 20-year-old woman who grew up in the Bhola slum, suffers from failing kidneys, an inflamed heart, and problems with her lungs.
Sharmina's mother said, “The NGOs only provided us with food, but no support for Sharmina's treatment. I work as a maid to pay for my daughter's hospital treatment, but it is not enough”.
Together, the mother and daughter only make 4,000 Taka (AUD 49) a month, and hospital bills can cost them 20,000 Taka a month.
To pay for their hospital visits, they beg on the streets.
Those living in the slums often don’t have the proper legal documents to occupy the land. When governments or private projects are funded on the land, “they have to demolish that area," Rahman said.
The Bhola slum has been affected by urban projects that have seen large portions of the slum bulldozed. “Before, we had 1400 families,” said Begum, “now [the government] has demolished the slum, only 100 or 150 families are here.”
When Begum remembers the day she lost her home, cracks appear in her stoic resolve
“I tried to stop them. I couldn’t save many of the things in the house, I couldn’t save them, they destroyed everything and flattened them to the soil by a bulldozer. I ran away with only what I was wearing. I couldn’t save anything in the house, these things were worth a lot of money. Everything was destroyed and mixed with the ground.”
“When the government destroyed our slum, it was rainy season, so we bought a tent to live on the street. When we were in the tent, the police came and beat us, they tortured us a lot. Needless to say, I am very mentally ill.”
The Bangladesh government "is trying to work and incorporate it into the policy to relocate them in the housing project", Rahman said. But with the overflowing amounts of climate migrants, getting housing for everyone isn't possible.
“Bangladesh has always been vulnerable to flooding,” he said, “but climate change has drastically increased the frequency and intensity. This is no longer a once-in-a-lifetime disaster—it’s the new normal.”
For millions of Bangladeshis, the future holds more floods, more displacement, and greater suffering. Climate experts warn that without urgent action, the situation will only worsen. But for many, climate change is not a future threat, it is today's reality.
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