By IANS,
Dhaka : Over 100 fishermen were missing and thousands marooned in flash floods that hit the coastal belt of southern Bangladesh.
The meteorology office in the capital Dhaka said the sea would remain rough under the influence of the depression that had formed in the northern part of Bay of Bengal.
The depression still hovering on the northern Bay of Bengal was expected to cross to Indian coastal areas in Orissa, albeit slowly, The Daily Star newspaper said Wednesday.
Tidal surges, whipped up by the full moon, snapped ferry services on the Kuakata route in Patuakhali and washed away a flood-prevention embankment along the Baleshawar River in Bagerhat.
Citing survivors, reports from Khulna, Bagerhat and Bhola said 25 trawlers with over 300 fishermen on board were caught in gusty winds, accompanied by driving rain, and went under.
They said the winds packed speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour.
About 200 fishermen managed to swim ashore. The missing could not be traced till the day-end, Bangladesh Coast Guard sources said.
DPA adds: Coastal inundation in the worst-hit Patuakhali district left homes and businesses under two metres of sea water forcing tourists to abandon the exclusive beaches, disaster management officials said.
Tidal waves flooded the southern Khulna region washing away shrimp enclosures, thatched dwellings and rice growing on an estimated 10,000 hectares of lush lands.
Barguna, a popular fishing port in the south of the country, was almost deserted because of the evacuation of hundreds of families from the fragile coast to flood shelters.
Islanders on the windswept coast were asked to abandon their seashore homes.
Climate experts say the sudden flooding triggered by rising walls of water wiped out scores of hamlets on the coast.
Operations in the seaports of Chittagong, Mongla and Cox’s Bazar were disrupted while tidal waves ripped through at least two river dams and disrupted traffic on the strategic Kalapara-Kuakata highway in the south.