Bangladesh Cyclone Death Toll Now 1,723

Rescue Workers Struggle To Reach Victims As Deadly Storm Forces One Million To Evacuate Coast

(CBS/AP)  The official death toll from a savage cyclone that wreaked havoc on southwest Bangladesh reached 1,723 Saturday - the deadliest storm to hit the country in a decade.

Military helicopters and ships joined rescue and relief operations and aid workers on the ground struggled to reach victims. Tropical Cyclone Sidr tore apart villages and forced more than a million coastal villagers to evacuate to government shelters.

Millions more are without power.

The latest death figure tallied to 1,723, with 474 deaths reported from worst-hit Barguna district and 385 from neighboring Patuakhali, a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Moyeenullah Chowdhury, told reporters in the capital, Dhaka.

"Cyclones are not new to Bangladesh, but this one definitely was very, very different, because of the wind speed that I saw, of 240 to 285 kilometers (per hour) [approximately 150 to 175 mph]," Vince Edwards of the aid organization Worldvision told CBS News.

The government reports about 280,000 households have been fully or partially destroyed, said Edwards.

Rescuers battled along roads that were washed out or blocked by wind-blown debris to try to get water and food to people stranded by flooding. Some employed the brute force of elephants to help in their efforts.

On Saturday, the army deployed helicopters to deliver supplies to the remotest areas, while navy ships delivered supplies and dispensed medical assistance to migrant fishing communities living on and around hundreds of tiny islands, or shoals, along the coast, the Inter Services Public Relations department said in a statement.

The Ministry of Disaster Management, which has struggled to collect detailed information from the devastated area because of the disruptions to power and communications, put the official death toll Saturday at 932.

"The toll is rising fast, as we receive more information from outlying areas where telephone lines have been restored," said Mokhlesur Rahman, a ministry official in Dhaka, the capital.

At least 270 people died in Patuakhali south of Dhaka, while neighboring Barguna suffered at least 160 deaths, Rahman added.

The United News of Bangladesh news agency, which has reporters deployed across the devastated region, said the count from each affected district left an overall death toll of at least 1,100.

The damage to livelihood, housing and crops will be "extremely severe," John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said Friday, adding that the world body was making millions of dollars in aid available to Bangladesh.

Several international humanitarian organizations, like UNICEF and CARE, were working alongside government and local volunteer agencies to provide safe drinking water and emergency supplies in the affected areas.

"We are hopeful that emergency preparedness in place and quick action has successfully reduced the loss of human life," Suman Islam of CARE Bangladesh said in an e-mailed statement.

"But many people are now homeless, crops and livelihoods have been destroyed and this is going to put great pressure on the government, the economy, and the people themselves," he said.

The 150 mph winds wreaked havoc on the country's electricity and telephone lines, affecting even areas that were spared a direct hit, and leaving the full picture of the death and destruction unclear.

Holmes said his U.N. agency believed that more than 20,000 houses were damaged in the hardest-hit districts, and that the death toll was expected to climb beyond the government's figures.

About 150 fishing trawlers were unaccounted for, he said.

Many parts of Dhaka, the biggest city in this poor, desperately crowded nation of 150 million people, remained without power or water Saturday.

The storm killed at least four people in the capital, which was pounded by strong winds and driving rain Friday.

Hasanul Amin, assistant director of the official cyclone preparedness program and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, said about a dozen teams had been deployed to the worst-hit areas in the country's southwest.

But it was slow going. In the village of Sharankhola, some people waited for hours to get dry biscuits and rice, according to Bishnu Prasad, a United News of Bangladesh reporter on the scene.

"We have lost everything," a farmer, Moshararf Hossain, told Prasad. "We have nowhere to go."

Sidr spawned a 4 foot-high storm surge that swept through low-lying areas and some offshore islands, leaving them under water, said Nahid Sultana, an official of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.

At least 1.5 million coastal villagers had fled to shelters where they were given emergency rations, said senior government official Ali Imam Majumder in Dhaka.

Many evacuees returned home Saturday to find their straw and bamboo huts had been flattened by the storm. Some sought refuge with neighbors living in brick houses that withstood the storm.

"We survived, but what we need now is help to rebuild our homes," Chand Miah, a resident of Maran Char, a small island in Khulna district, told the Associated Press.

World Vision is putting together seven-day relief packages for families that will include rice, oil, sugar, salt, candles and blankets, according to Vince Edwards, the agency's Bangladesh director.

But Edwards said debris from the storm has blocked roads and rivers, making it difficult to reach all the areas that had been hit.

"There has been lot of damage to houses made of mud and bamboo, and about 60 to 80 percent of the trees have been uprooted," Edwards said.

By late Friday evening, work had resumed at the country's two main seaports - Chittagong and Mongla - as well Chittagong and Dhaka airports, authorities said.

The storm spared India's eastern coast, where the weather was calm. India's Meteorological Department had forecast heavy rain and flooding in West Bengal and Orissa states.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation, is prone to seasonal cyclones and floods that cause huge loss of life and property.

In 1970, between 300,000 and 500,000 people were killed when a cyclone slammed into the Bangladesh coast, and some 140,000 died in 1991.

After the 1991 cyclone, foreign donors and Bangladeshi government agencies began building emergency shelters - concrete boxes raised on pillars, each able to hold anywhere from a few hundred to 3,000 people.

In June, mudslides, flooding and lightning strikes inundated Bangladeshi cities and killed more than 120 people during the country's annual monsoon season.

[patriotic9]

Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world was better in response to cyclone then FEMA was to Hurricane Katrina!!!!

[juwboy]

Bangladesh has weather like this every year, so they know what to expect and how to deal with it.

Similarly, California was able to deal competently with major fires last month because they occur every few years.

Also, you can be certain that California has equipment and supplies in place NOW to deal with blizzards and snow-blocked freeways. Why? Because it''s needed every year.

[standlee5]

Will the new wealthy of India step up to the plate and donate their precious new money to help the people or will they just rely on the west for aid.

[rupket]

The US could offer some help to the people of Bangladesh if we didn''t spend all our money in Iraqi and have the highest national debt in our history.

Thanks George!

[abigail70]

Idiot! What in blazes does President Bush have to do with a natural disaster? Suck it up, you flaming moron. He''s the president, and he will be until we elect the next one. Give it some time, and you can ***, whine, moan, groan and complain about the next one! If you hate the country so much, get the hell out!

[nordeck52]

I find it interesting that the word "devastation" is misspelled in the descriptions of the photos on this article. CBS editors, I think you missed a spot or two.

Abigail70, I couldn''t agree with you more. Thank you!

[denn034]

Condolences to all concerned.

[tomflint69]

I thought only India was the poor country on earth full of troubles and disasters.
We cn help poor Bengolis and Indians by offering them free citizenships of the U.S and the other Western countries. They being poor should all be allowed to move to our countries. Their countries be left as a barron area.

[tomflint69]

If I were the U.S president, I would offer all Bengolis and Indians to permanently settle in the U.S.

[winnerindia]

Dear Madam Tomflint69

I am agree that India public should all be moving to America. We Indians are the secret of their progress.
Move all Indians to America. Jai Gandhi Pushtimi, Jai India

[tomflint69]

Dear Madam Tomflint69

I am agree that India public should all be moving to America. We Indians are the secret of their progress.
Move all Indians to America. Jai Gandhi Pushtimi, Jai India
-----------------------------------
Posted by winnerindia at 06:42 PM : Nov 16, 2007

I am not madam you crazy man. I am a male.

[ndjam]

This is a horrible scenerio. Everyone send help. send cash, do anything to help this country.

[onsteroids1]

Somebody shoulda warned them.

[peaceprophet]

HOPE FOR AMERICA: PRESIDENT RON PAUL

-- No more meddling in other country''s political affairs
-- No more aggressive military actions overseas
-- No more torture prisons
-- No more pseudo-wars like the "War on Drugs"
-- No more IRS and unconstitutional income taxes
-- No more Federal Reserve (the group of private banks which owns our government)
-- No more erosion of Social Security to pay for militarization
-- No more U.N. (one world government) participation
-- No more NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO or GATT
-- No more North American Union
-- No more federal gun control laws
-- No more illegal aliens pouring-in over our country''s borders
-- No more illegal aliens allowed to roam freely in our streets
-- No more national ID cards (Real ID Act)
-- No more government invasion of your privacy
-- No more federal Laws which are not authorized by The Constitution
-- No more federal erosion of State sovereignty
-- No more unlimited federal government

They don''t call him "Dr. No" for no reason. The Doctor is in! Join us in this 21st Century political revolution at ronpaul2008.com

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men"
- Samual Adams

"Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine

"Ron Paul doesn''t represent your Father''s school of political thought. He represents your Founding Fathers."
- Me

[peaceprophet]

WERE HAVING A TEA PARTY! YOU''RE INVITED
As we all know, freedom isn''t free in this country. Therefore, in the wake of our successful fundraising event of November 5th, in which we all came together to raise $4.2 million dollars for Ron Paul''s campaign, we''ve set yet another date for an even bigger fundraiser. This one will take place during on December 16th: a very important date for people who love freedom and hate tyranny to ring the Liberty Bell, and let our sold-out, globalist, political ****** and their mainstream media enablers know that good Americans are mad as hell, and that we''re not going to take it anymore. December 16th is the 224th aniversary of The Boston Tea Party: an act of protest by the American colonists against the tyranny of Great Britain where the Sons of Liberty boarded British ships and dumped crates of tea overboard into Boston Harbor. It was a key event which helped to spark the American Revolution, and we hope this event will, likewise, add additional spark to our own 21st Century political revolution to restore peace, prosperity and freedom to our Republic by helping elect a President whose record of adherance to The Constitution is unmatched by anyone in American politics. Please join us this December 16th for the largest one-day political donation event in history. Our goal is to bring together 100,000 people to donate $100 each, creating a one day donation total of $10,000,000. The time to act is now. The time for Ron Paul is NOW! TeaParty07.com

[peaceprophet]

RON PAUL IS THE NEW WAY
What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW way. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Presidential candidate, Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherence to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[peaceprophet]

WHO''S RON PAUL?
Ron Paul''s campaign has become a clearinghouse for voters like me who feel unrepresented by the Fascisct (globalist Republicans) and their Socialist comrades in crime (globalist Democrats). They''re actually one and the same. It''s all a phony, poorly staged left-right paradigm. Most people, though, are too distracted, dumbed-down, or outright brainwashed by mainstream media, which endlessly regurgitates scientifically-crafted streams of information aimed at keeping their eyes closed to the realities of the world around them, that they fail to recognize this. Those currently in power, and those being groomed to take [major] political power, are preselected by a "global elite," and whomever is eventually elected, will ultimately, serve their agenda, and not ours. People on the right and those on the left have many differences, maybe irreconcilable ones. But we have a lot of common beliefs too, and our numbers and anger are of a considerable magnitude. No matter what happens in 2008, I personally believe Ron Paul will influence the national conversation about how much power our government should have over our lives; how much liberty we should give up for security; and whether we should continue moving along our current path towards one world government. These are issues that, frankly, no one else is talking about as seriously and sincerely as Ron Paul. What''s for sure is that his growing army of supporters like me will be a force to be reckoned with in 2008.

[peaceprophet]

WILL THIS POST SOON BE A THOUGHT CRIME?
While CBS was busy pretending all other news didn''t exist during the California wildfires, our Constitution was burning on the floors of Congress. On Oct 23, the House overwhelmingly passed HR 1955, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act. This Bill is one of the most blatant attacks against our right to freedom of speech ever devised by Congress. The Bill actually defines different types of thought as "homegrown terrorism," and unlike previous anti-terror legislation, it specifically targets U.S. citizens. The Bill uses extremely vague language to define "terrorist propoganda" as any speech which promotes an agenda that the government considers an "extremist belief system." Since the bill doesn%u2019t specifically define what an "extremist belief system" is, it will be entirely up to the interpretation of government officials. Isn''t that comforting? Considering how much the government has done to desecrate our Constitution lately, they would surely have to define this post as promoting an "extremist belief" system, since it promotes the restoration of civil liberties--something not en vogue these days. As disturbing as this Bill is, so to is the additional requirement that there be a seperate, "public version." In other words, the Bill we see is different from what Congress is seeing. Why''s that necessary? Whatever the reason, I predict this Bill will become Law soon while CBS focuses the country''s attention elsewhere

[peaceprophet]

ARE WE A NATION OF LAWS?
Consider the Patriot Act. The Law is 342 pages long, or 57,000 words, making it a bit longer than Dostoevsky''s "Notes from Underground" or, if you''re partial to pigs, about twice the size of Orwell''s "Animal Farm." The Patriot Act is the reigning champion of our government''s recent un-American activities. When it was first paraded before Congress and the Senate following the 9/11 attacks, few Members, other than Congressman, Ron Paul dared to vote against it. Most in Congress simply gave it their rubber-stamp of approval, without ever reading it. Why bother? It was, after all, named the "USA Patriot Act." It must be a good thing. Right? Now in effect, the Law wrecks a generation''s worth of constitutional protections against government snooping, legalizing police-state tactics in searches and seizures, criminalizing certain forms of speech and political activity, and opening the way for the mistreatment of foreigners in government custody and wholesale expulsions and imprisonment. It is a repugnant, unnecessary Law that goes against the very principles its name wrongly implies. Yet, it remains unchecked and unbalanced by public opinion, Lawmakers or the Courts. So, yes, we''re a nation of Laws. But the Laws aren''t much to speak of when they''re designed to hoodwink the public to win its docility. Neither is public responsibility much to speak of these days when its docility is secured with nothing more than a ploy-riddled play on the word "patriot."

[peaceprophet]

CAMPING OUT WITH HALIBURTION
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act, which was supported by Clinton, Obama and McCain, permits militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters ("potential terrorists") and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities which are already contracted for and under construction by Kellog, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. This Law, which was sold to an "emergency managed" and willfully gullible public in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as a necessary measure needed by our President in order to fight his "global war on terrorism," permits the indefinite detention of American citizens who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of our President. The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International reported recently that global engineering and technical services powerhouse, Kellog, Brown & Root announced during January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division had been awarded a (no bid) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract to build these detainment camps with a maximum total value of $385 million over a five year term, and that this contract called for the company to build "temporary detention and processing capabilities" to augment existing U.S. government Detention and Removal Operations and to support "the rapid development of new programs." New Programs? Could it possibly get any worse? Why would the president be so concerned about Americans protesting? Aren''t we all happy campers?

[jetranger7]

Go check out WWW.INFOWARS.COM for the latest on Government Corruption and the Scams put on Americans by your wondereous politicians ! WWW.INFOWARS.COM

[ringading3]

Why doesn''t CBS delete comments that are not related to the article? The jackasses of this world are using this comment board to boor us with their rants.

[bigsk8fan]

boy, the neocon republicans don''t believe this stuff about desertion. they think the surge is working in iraq. and that iraqis want our army there.

[fibonacci_]

People who believe in an all-good all-powerful god: Why did god do this? Is this somehow good maybe? I cannot comprehend why it is good?

[standlee5]

Will the new wealthy of INDIA step up to the plate and give aid to these poor people or will they rely on the kindness of middle class America. There are many many wealthy in India but are they generous?

[ndjam]

Everyone must donate to this cause NOW. The people of Bangladesh need our help. Donate your helping hand, money, time, anything. This country has suffered enough. C.A.R.E and the International Red Cross are taking donations now. www.icrc.org

[fibonacci_]

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