Shawdesh Desk: Hard times lie ahead of the disaster responders as hundreds of thousands of people have been cut off from road communications on Saturday and could be reached out only by boat.

On Saturday, within few hours in the morning, the Sangu rose so rapidly that the hilly city of Bandarban was left entirely submerged in floodwaters.

The fire service’s district office in Bandarban stood in waist-deep water and the emergency responders had to carry rescue devices on their shoulders throughout the day on Saturday.

‘It is frightening to see Sangu swell so dangerously fast,’ said Rumana Rashid, who lives in the area where the fire service office is situated.

‘It sends chills down my spine thinking why the water level was rising and not flowing downstream,’ she said.

It has already been three days that Bandarban city has been detached from the rest of the country.

Bandarban city dwellers were caught by surprise as they did not think that floodwaters could rise so rapidly that they would not get time to prepare for the emergency situation since the inhabitants were already running low on emergency supplies.

New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat said that the Teesta Barrage authorities were worried about the barrage’s fate even after opening all of its sluice gates.

Still, the water was building up on the other side of the barrage, threatening to wash it away, the New Age correspondent reported.

A red alert has been issued for the people living around the Teesta barrage and the authorities were planning to cut open a road near the barrage to lessen water pressure.

Hatibandha upazila was cut off from the rest of the country as overflowing Teesta already submerged all roads, destroying them in the process.

Atiar Rahman, chairman, Gaddimari union parishad, Hatibandha, said that about 2,000 people in his area were cut off from the rest of the country and no help reached there till Saturday.

New Age correspondent in Bogura said that Jamuna overflowed at Sariakandi point in the afternoon inundating a vast area.

Dozens of schools were inundated and people left homes looking for safer places.

New Age correspondent in Sylhet reported that 3.5 lakh people were marooned in seven upazilas of Sunamganj.

Road communications between Jamalganj, Bishwambharpur, Tahirpur and Dakshin Sunamganj upazilas and the district town was cut off after floodwaters damaged several roads.

District education officer Zillur Rahman said that academic activities remained suspended at 238 educational institutions affected by flooding.

At least 13 districts were already flooded across the country. They are Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Netrokona, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, in a bulletin in the afternoon, said that 15 rivers were flowing above their danger levels at least at 23 points.

The rivers that already overflowed banks include Surma, Kushiyara, Khwai, Manu, Matamuhuri, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Kangsha, Dhalai, Someswari, Halda, Teesta and Sangu.

The FFWC recorded country’s highest rainfall of 225 mms in 24 hours till 9:00am at Lalkhal.

Several areas in Sylhet, Dhaka, Bandarban and Netrokona received more than 100 mms of rainfall during the same time, the FFWC said.

Jalpaiguri received 155 mms of rain during the same time while Cherapunji 150 mms, the FFWC said.

The FFWC said that major rivers would continue to swell over the next 72 hours because of heavy rains inside Bangladesh and in Assam, Meghalaya, and Sikkim in the upstream.

The Met Office recorded country’s highest rainfall of 220 mms in the last 24 hours till 6:00pm at Sitakunda.