Philippines floods: thousands flee Manila after days of torrential rain

The weather department has predicted light rains in parts of the country in 24 hours, starting from 9:00am today. "Light rain or drizzle is likely to occur at one or two places over Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions and weather may remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country," the department said in its bulletin. "Light rain or drizzle is likely to occur at one or two places over Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, ...

India and Bangladesh: Innovations for flood defences | PreventionWeb

A woman with two children wade through water as they look for shelter amidst heavy rains that caused widespread flooding in Sylhet yesterday. Images: Mashuk Hridoy/Sheikh Nasir/Reuters/Courtesy of Palash Basak

A fire and a huge explosion have killed at least 49 people and injured hundreds more at a storage depot near the city of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Hundreds of people had arrived to tackle the fire when a number of shipping containers exploded at the site in Sitakunda. It is thought that chemicals were stored in some of the containers. Industrial fires are common in Bangladesh, and are often blamed on poor safety regulations. Many of the injured are said to be in a critical condition...

The World Bank has approved a $500 million credit to help Bangladesh improve disaster preparedness against inland flooding in 14 flood-prone districts benefiting over 1.25 million people. The Resilient Infrastructure for Adaptation and Vulnerability Reduction (RIVER) project will help Bangladesh reduce vulnerability to riverine and flash floods by constructing over 500 multipurpose flood shelters, access roads, and climate-resilient community infrastructure, the multinational lender said i...