Residents Wade Through Chattogram Floodwaters Amid Bangladesh Crisis
Residents wade through floodwaters after heavy monsoon rains in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on July 12, 2026. Flash floods and landslides have killed at least 51 people over the past week, officials said, with tens of thousands displaced from their homes.

Floods and landslides triggered by days of torrential monsoon rain have killed at least 51 people in southeastern Bangladesh and left more than a million residents stranded, as authorities continued racing to deliver aid to devastated communities across seven districts and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman ordered all government agencies onto maximum alert.

WHAT HAPPENED

Bangladesh's disaster management ministry said the confirmed death toll rose to 51, with 39 others injured, as flooding across Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Moulvibazar and Habiganj continued to disrupt daily life and isolate thousands of families. Cox's Bazar has recorded the highest toll with 28 deaths — including 15 local residents and 13 Rohingya refugees — followed by Chattogram with 13, Bandarban with six, Rangamati with three and Moulvibazar with one; Khagrachhari and Habiganj have reported no fatalities so far. Authorities said 1,022,963 people have now been affected across 267,918 households, spanning 58 upazilas, 386 unions and 11 municipalities, with nearly 44,500 people taking shelter in emergency centers.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman instructed all government agencies and field-level administrations to remain on maximum alert and work in close coordination to protect lives and property, reviewing the flood situation, rescue efforts, shelter conditions, relief distribution and healthcare availability during a virtual meeting with divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, senior police officials and civil surgeons.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre had earlier attributed the disaster to exceptionally heavy rainfall over three days, with 815 millimeters recorded in Chattogram, 518 millimeters in Lama and 330 millimeters in Cox's Bazar, part of a deluge that also affected India's Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal states upstream. At least 25 villages in Habiganj were inundated after an embankment on the Khowai River collapsed under the pressure of continuous rainfall and upstream runoff, rapidly flooding nearby areas and suspending traffic on a regional road.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief said it allocated roughly 1.75 crore taka in cash assistance and 3,250 metric tonnes of rice to the seven affected districts between July 7 and July 12, with Chattogram receiving the largest share. Heavy rain separately triggered landslides earlier in the week in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, killing 16 refugees, including women and children; more than one million Rohingya refugees live in the camps, where makeshift shelters on steep, deforested hillsides are especially vulnerable during monsoon season. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Iqbal Hossain said the government is doing everything possible to support flood victims, with relief, safe drinking water and medical supplies being distributed and displaced residents urged to move to the nearest shelter. The military has continued delivering water, medicine and other essentials by boat to isolated communities as power outages, damaged roads and broken communication links slow rescue efforts in several areas.

WHY IT MATTERS

The rising toll and confirmation that more than a million people are affected across nearly 268,000 households underscores the severity of a monsoon season forecasters had already flagged as carrying elevated flood risk for Bangladesh's Brahmaputra and Meghna river basins. The concentration of deaths in Cox's Bazar, home to the world's largest Rohingya refugee settlement, adds a particularly acute humanitarian dimension as displaced populations already living in precarious conditions bear a disproportionate share of the disaster's toll. The prime minister's direct involvement signals the government is treating the disaster as a top-tier national priority as it works to head off further casualties.

WHAT'S NEXT

Relief operations continue across the affected districts as authorities work to restore power, roads and communications, with nearly 50,000 people now in shelters. Forecasters are monitoring several river basins for the possibility of new short-term flooding in the coming days, while officials caution the death toll could rise further as damage assessments continue.

Originally published on HNGN