Case Study Bangladesh Flood

Question 1

Rivers?

Answer 1

Rivers Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna

Question 2

Date?

Answer 2

July-September 2008

Question 3

Location?

Answer 3

Bangladesh in South Asia -capital is Dhaka

Question 4

Background?

Answer 4

Monsoon flooding is an annual event in Bangladesh but some years are worse than others

Question 5

Causes: physically- weather?

Answer 5

Melting snow from Himalayas as summer approached & heavy monsoon rains of 8308mm in July 2004 meant huge volumes of water was entering river system at the same time - too much for channel to hold.

Question 6

Causes: physically-rivers?

Answer 6

Confluence of 3 huge rivers, the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna drain a combined catchment area of 110 hectares and huge volumes of water from these rivers were funnelled towards Bangladesh where the rivers meet

Question 7

Causes: physically - Bangladesh?

Answer 7

50% of Bangladesh is less than 5m above sea level and so country is essentially one huge river delta and is very vulnerable to flooding

Question 8

Causes: human -deforestation?

Answer 8

Deforestation in Himalayas reduces interception and therefore unprotected soil becomes compacted with rain and reduces infiltration so more water is transferred faster to river channel

Question 9

Causes: human- population?

Answer 9

Rapid population growth has lead to increased population densities on flood plains e.g. Capital Dhaka is a floodplain and is home to 14million people meaning floods will cause widespread damage

Question 10

Causes: human-global warming?

Answer 10

Rising temperature leads to more energy in atmosphere increasing instability in the weather and therefore likelihood of an intensive monsoon season

Question 11

Primary effects: social-deaths?

Answer 11

898 deaths - people who became trapped by floodwaters were eventually swept away due to lack of emergency rescue services and people also died from starvation and disease

Question 12

Primary effects: social-houses?

Answer 12

860,000 homes destroyed as they were all built on flood plains furthermore the homes were made of flimsy material e.g. Corrugated iron or cardboard and so could not withstand waters

Question 13

Primary effects: economic-Dhaka?

Answer 13

Parts of Dhaka including its international airport was 2m below water and businesses and government offices could not operate meaning economy was affected and also the response to the disaster

Question 14

Primary effects: economic - farmers?

Answer 14

2.5million farmers affected, crops were destroyed, livestock drowned, income lost, seeds for next year lost, food lost

Question 15

Primary effects: environmental- areas flooded?

Answer 15

2/3 of the country was flooded - this was because 50% of country was only 5m above sea level and so once rivers overflow their banks, they can flow vast distances, flooding farmland ,transport routes and settlements

Question 16

Primary effects: environmental- flood water?

Answer 16

Flood water polluted wells, flowing in from above and bringing with it silt, debris and sewage leading to contaminated water supplies for 1/4 million people

Question 17

Secondary effects: social - food?

Answer 17

Since 2.5 mil farmers were affected, there were many food shortages which led to more deaths and also inflation of food prices

Question 18

Secondary effects: economic - development?

Answer 18

Development slowed as the cost of repairs is estimated to be £12 million and although much of this was given by other countries, some was given by Bangladeshi government and so slowed other areas of economic development by not putting money into that

Question 19

Secondary effects: environmental-result of contaminated water?

Answer 19

Hospitals filled up with people suffering from cholera as a result of dirty water

Question 20

Management: intermediate?

Answer 20

International aid was provided by overseas governments and charities e.g. ActionAid giving water purification tablets and carbolic soap to treat snakebites. However this was slowed down because lack of access to airports, roads and railways.

Question 21

Management: long-term- government response?

Answer 21

Dhaka integrated flood protection project $100million with AsianDevelopment Bank including large-scaled hard engineering projects e.g. earth embankments to hold back rising floodwater

Question 22

Management: long-term-charities response?

Answer 22

Oxfam preparedness program example of one providing funds for small scale protection schemes such as flood shelters, providing space for 100 families including community rooms and toilets and 2ha raised space for livestock

Question 23

Sustainability- positive?

Answer 23

Dhaka Integrated Flood Protection Scheme seek to be sustainable by providing flood protection schemes to protect people and economy for many years to come

Question 24

Sustainability -negative?

Answer 24

These projects are expensive to maintain and become redundant as sea levels rise meaning more investment needed and more lives at risk, furthermore, they are simply minimising effects of flooding and not tackling problem e.g. Deforestation of Himalayas