This Revised Emergency Appeal now seeks CHF 1,730,251 (decreased from CHF 2,789,432 ) in cash, kind, or services to support the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) to assist 8,000 families (40,000 beneficiaries) for nine months. This budget includes CHF 57,191 for the cost of Shelter Cluster coordination. Donors’ support for this component as well as the Appeal are encouraged. The operation will be completed by the end of February 2014. A Final Report will be made available by the end of May 2014 (three months after the end of the operation).
Appeal Coverage: Approximately 21% of the original appeal (34% of revised appeal amount)
DREF and Appeal History:
On 18 May 2013, CHF 305,688 was allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support BDRCS in delivering immediate assistance to 20,000 beneficiaries for three months.
An Emergency Appeal was launched on 24 May 2013 for CHF 2,789,432 aiming to assist 9,000 families (45,000 beneficiaries) over a nine months period. The Appeal is revised based on the Phase 3 Joint Need Assessment findings. Operational changes are denoted in this Revised Emergency Appeal document.
Summary
The tropical cyclone Mahasen made landfall on 16 May 2013 in the Barisal division of southern Bangladesh. Ahead of the cyclone resulting in more than 1 million people living in the storm’s path being evacuated to cyclone shelters. The Government of Bangladesh, with the assistance of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society’s (BDRCS) Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) team successfully prevented a larger scale disaster through effective early warning systems. The cyclone resulted in 26,577 houses being completely damaged and 124,428 houses being partially damaged in the nine affected districts.1 People have been forced to take shelter on roadsides and in temporary locations. Women, children, the elderly and disabled were the most affected in this context.
Immediately after the cyclone made landfall BDRCS conducted light search and rescue operations.
BDRCS also provided first aid and distributed dry food and clean water to the affected populations, particularly in the remote islands of Patuakhali, Bhola and Barguna districts. At the same time, the BDRCS cyclone contingency plan was activated whereby relief, including tarpaulins and water jerry cans were provided in Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola. Six National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) members were deployed to assist with the operation.
Close coordination was maintained between BDRCS, in-country Partner National Societies (PNSs), IFRC and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC). On top of that, the Humanitarian Shelter Cluster, jointly led by the UNDP and IFRC met in Dhaka on 16 and 17 May 2013 to review its readiness for immediate shelter assistance to the affected populations. The Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) requested a Phase 3 Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) for the three most affected districts (Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola).2 In summary, the Phase 3 JNA revealed the disaster situation has improved over the first two-week period3 .
Around 31 per cent of the affected households have begun reconstructing their own houses. Only 20 per cent of the affected households have access to sanitation facilities, which is quite low compared to the national baseline of 39 per cent coverage. The hygiene coverage is also very low, in which 67 per cent of affected households do not have access to hygiene practice. Concluding that access to improved sanitation should be a priority area for response. Follow up response gap analysis was conducted by the Shelter, WASH and Early Recovery Clusters.
The Emergency Appeal and its operational plan has been revised in accordance with changing priorities on the ground, which seeks to support 4,000 families in the three most affected districts of Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola in relief phase, and to further support 4,000 families from the districts of Patuakhali and Barguna in early recovery period. Assistance include shelter solutions together with sanitation facilities, livelihood programmes and disaster risk reduction (DRR) to the displaced and vulnerable families in the affected area.
The operation is expected to be implemented over nine months, and will be completed by the end of February 2014. A Final Report will be available by the end of May 2014 (three months after the end of the operation).