Initial Impressions

I was on the first flyover yesterday. We went over Khulna, Mongla Port, down to Hiron Point and then east over Barguna, Patuakhali and Bhola Districts, north to circle Barisal a couple of times, then returned to Dhaka.

Damage in the Sundarbans greatly exaggerated. Most of the forest is intact, just blown about a bit, lots of mud and water everywhere. Vast areas of the forest look largely unfazed, just a little rattled and shaken up.

That being said, Ground Zero (just off Hiron Point) looks like a Mount St. Helens blast zone: trees leveled, lying in parallel rows or with trunks standing and the canopies snapped off like match sticks. Entire communities were also washed away, only sign of thatched structures once standing is a path visible from the air, leading to an empty clearing where a house or other structure once stood. Occasional bridges were out, also tin roofs lifted entirely off the structure and deposited several yards away, panels ripped up and flung higgledy-piggledy. Preliminary indications are that most if not all thatched and frame structures (that is to say, up to 90% of all buildings in some areas) are gone or severely damaged.

Affected areas quite remote, hard to reach even when transport is good. Logistics will continue to be a problem…every island cut off from the others, docks and wharves are damaged. Too many things needed in too many places.

-Paul S. (USAID Employee); November 19, 2007