Cyclone-induced rains paralyzes Bangladesh capital
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E-mail Xinhua, May 17, 2013
Cyclone-induced rains have had much of the Bangladesh capital city knee-deep in water since Thursday morning, wreaking havoc on life and entire gamut of business activities.
Officials said the cyclone "Mahasen", which made landfall in Bangladesh's extreme southern coastline Thursday morning as a category 1 storm with top wind speeds of 100 kilometers per hour, "appeared to have weakened" after heavy rains.
The cyclone has caused the deaths of ten people on its course elsewhere in the country.
Motiur Rahman, a weather observer of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told Xinhua that 45 millimeters of rain fell in six hours to 12:00 p.m. (local time) in Dhaka, home to about 15 million people.
He said the country's highest rainfall in 6 hours to 12:00 p.m. was 121 millimeters in Patuakhali, some 204 kilometers south of Dhaka, where the cyclonic storm made first landfall on Thursday morning at about 7:00 a.m.
The heavy rainfall that started in Dhaka Thursday morning paralyzed life and business activities in the city to some extent, with many vehicles stranded on water-logged roads and people trapped at home as many low-lying areas were inundated.
Fearing the risk of being stranded, most three-wheelers, auto- rickshaws and taxis avoided hitting the roads that are vulnerable to water stagnation.
Many vehicles remained stranded in knee-to-waist deep water at many places when their drivers were seen to push their vehicles out of logged waters.
"Now I need to push it out with the support of my helper for whom I'm awaiting," said Abdul Hamid, the driver of a three- wheeler which got stuck on a water logged road leading to key commercial district Motijheel.
He said they have to wade through knee-deep water in many Dhaka streets even after light to moderate rainfall.
Thursday's heavy downpour also exposed the pitiable conditions of Dhaka's drainage system.
Roads, lanes and by-lanes experienced serious water-logging problem. Because of this, students did not turn up at their respective institutions, while many office-goers, traders and workers fell behind their daily schedules.
Rickshaws, however, emerged as a means of relief in the water- logged areas but the pullers charged many times the usual fares.
"How can we join the workplaces on time today? You can't even walk at all to reach destination because some footpaths are muddy after rain," said a official.
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