Flood Crisis Deepens Across Bangladesh as Rivers Breach Embankments, Leaving Communities Cut Off

Special Correspondent
Published: 11 Jul, 2026
Updated: 26 Jul, 2026
Main News Image

Flood conditions have worsened across large parts of Bangladesh as relentless monsoon rains and surging waters from upstream rivers breached embankments, inundated villages and left hundreds of thousands of people stranded. Authorities warned that the situation could deteriorate further in several northern, northeastern and southeastern districts over the next 48 hours.

The human toll has already begun to mount. In Moulvibazar, the body of an elderly man was found floating inside his flooded home after rising waters trapped him overnight. In Cox's Bazar district, a 12-year-old girl drowned when a boat carrying people seeking shelter capsized, while an eight-year-old boy died after being swept away by floodwaters in Chattogram's Banshkhali area.

Across flooded communities, desperate residents pleaded for food as supplies dwindled.

"Can we get a little rice? The children are crying," residents told local authorities as prolonged inundation left many families unable to leave their homes.

Although water levels have started to recede slowly in parts of Bandarban's Sangu and Matamuhuri river basins, fresh flooding threatens Chattogram, Khagrachhari, Lakshmipur, Noakhali, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Rangpur. Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) also warned that flood conditions could worsen further across Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions.

In Moulvibazar, embankments protecting the Manu and Dhalai rivers have developed major breaches, leaving around 15,000 people marooned. Roads have disappeared beneath floodwater, culverts have collapsed and powerful currents have damaged paddy fields and vegetable farms.

The executive engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board in Moulvibazar said emergency repairs were under way at vulnerable embankment sections, but both rivers continued to flow above danger level.

In neighbouring Habiganj, a section of the Khowai river embankment collapsed in Kaliganj, flooding at least 25 villages and trapping more than 30,000 people. Families remain stranded with children, elderly relatives and livestock as floodwater continues to rise.

Heavy rainfall in India's Cherrapunji and Mawsynram has sent fresh waves of hill runoff into Sunamganj, raising water levels in the Jadukata, Patlai, Noljur and Kushiyara rivers. Several sections of the Sunamganj-Tahirpur highway have gone underwater, forcing vehicles to travel through dangerous flood currents.

District authorities in Sunamganj have prepared 1,311 emergency shelters and mobilised more than 1,200 local volunteers alongside teams from BRAC, the Red Crescent and other humanitarian organisations. Medical teams, medicines and emergency food supplies have also been stockpiled.

Further north, the Teesta River has risen three centimeters above danger level following heavy rainfall and upstream inflows from India's Gazoldoba barrage. Flooding threatens low-lying areas across Lalmonirhat, where hundreds of families face possible displacement if water levels continue to rise. Officials also warned that flood-control embankments could come under severe pressure.

In Sherpur, the Chellakhali River was flowing 206 centimeters above danger level, while swelling rivers have flooded markets and villages in Jhenaigati and Sreebardi upazilas.

Elsewhere, 109 millimetres of rainfall submerged low-lying neighbourhoods in Jashore municipality, while prolonged downpours flooded roads and homes across Chuadanga.

Food insecurity has emerged as an immediate concern in several isolated areas. Around 20,000 residents in Bhola's remote Monpura island remain trapped after eight consecutive days of heavy rain submerged settlements under up to four feet of water. Many low-income households have exhausted food supplies and urgently need rice, lentils, dry food and safe drinking water. Health officials have also expressed concern over deteriorating sanitation conditions.

Agricultural workers in Jhalakathi have lost their livelihoods as flooded fields have brought farm work to a standstill, while powerful river currents continue to erode riverbanks, threatening more homes.

Floodwaters have also crippled transport infrastructure. A culvert on the Kamalganj-Sreemangal road collapsed after torrential rain, while several regional roads remain submerged. Road links between Bandarban and Rangamati remain severed by landslides, and floodwaters have disrupted both road and river transport across large parts of Cox's Bazar and Habiganj.

The FFWC said heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely across Sylhet, Chattogram, Rangpur, Mymensingh and Rajshahi divisions during the next 24 to 48 hours. While floodwaters may gradually recede along the Sangu and Matamuhuri rivers, the Gomti, Muhuri, Feni, Selonia and Halda rivers could overflow, triggering fresh flooding in Feni, Chattogram and Khagrachhari. Low-lying areas of Lakshmipur and Noakhali also remain at risk of temporary inundation.

Forecasters warned that rising water levels in the Kushiyara, Surma, Jadukata, Someshwari and Bhugai-Kangsha rivers could further worsen flood conditions in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Sherpur and Mymensingh, while the Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers threaten additional flooding across parts of Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Rangpur.