Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Clean drinking water and shelter are urgently needed in Bangladesh, where the provisional death toll from cyclone Sidr has risen to over 1100 victims.  Governmental and international emergencies relief services have been operative on the ground since yesterday, after the cyclones passage devastated the southern coastal area of the country on November 15th. Thousands are injured, many more remain missing, entire villages have been submerged, homes and trees swept away by 250 Km/h winds. The worst affected areas are Barisal, Borguna, Pirozpur, Jhalokathi, Bhola, Luxmipur, Patualkhali, Bagerhat, Sathkhra and Cox’s Bazar.

Caritas Bangladesh and its local partner Catholic Relief Services are among those working on the ground, “field staff, volunteers, and partners have been working round-the clock to assess damages and identify emergency needs in affected communities. With telecommunication lines down, efforts to get information from the regions have been difficult, while some areas have yet to be reached”.

Caritas Bangladesh’s Director of Disaster Management and Development, said, “Crops were destroyed in water-logged areas. Fishing communities and day labourers, who usually live from hand to mouth, have lost their sources of income, and thousands of people are too poor to have any food stocks in their homes.”

The European Union has responded by pledging 1.5 million euros to relief efforts.  The category 4 storm, which yesterday weakened to a tropical storm, generated 15 metre waves which submerged villages along the Bay of Bengal coastline: Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalakathi.Over 3.2 million people were forced to evacuate.

In Geneva the UN office for coordinating Humanitarian Affairs announced that over one thousand fishermen were missing.  Over 30 thousand volunteers have been mobilised by the local Red Crescent.  The World Food Programme will send over 98 tonnes of high calorie biscuits, enough to feed over 400 thousand people, but they will not arrive for another three days.