Preliminary Report - Damage and Needs Assessment of Chattogram Division’s Flash Flood and Monsoon Rain

The Chattogram Division has been severely affected by monsoon rain between 5 – 8 August 2023, resulting in severe flash flood and landslides in Bandarban, Rangamati and Cox’s Bazar. The flood has caused a humanitarian crisis and people are still struggling for their basic necessities, such as food, household essential, drinking water, hygiene items, house repairing materials etc.

The affected population were already living under immense difficulty due to lack of required resources and adequate livelihood opportunities. Following the disaster, they are currentlyfacing extreme food crisis, loss of HHs essential items, partially or fully damaged houses, lack of wash facilities, loss of their savings, drastically lower opportunities for income. As a result, the life and livelihood of the affected people have been severely disrupted, and they are facing a lot of challenges in meeting their daily needs and living a dignified life. The Shelter Cluster, Displacement Management Cluster, and WASH Cluster have conducted a ‘Damage and Needs Assessment’ to determine the pattern of damages and post disaster key immediate needs at the HHs level for the affected population in the short term and long term. 

Furthermore, the assessment identified the needs of temporary displaced at the evacuation shelters - information which can be used during future disasters. This assessment has been conducted at Bandarban, Rangamati and Cox’s Bazar District. Assessment methodologies involved household survey, community-based Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) at the Union, Sub-district and District level. This is a preliminary report on the findings with a full report expected to be published soon.