Lightning, landslides and extreme rainfall test Bangladesh’s disaster preparedness

Relentless rain, landslides and torrents of upstream water killed at least 44 people in Bangladesh in July, affecting hundreds of thousands across 10 districts. Chattogram recorded its heaviest daily rainfall in four decades, while severe downpours left large parts of Dhaka waterlogged.

The disaster followed a deadly spell of lightning in April and May. On Apr 26 alone, 14 people died across seven districts. By Jun 4, a heatwave had spread across at least 48 districts. Flash floods, cyclones and earthquakes added to the risks.

Experts say Bangladesh has become better at reducing deaths from major cyclones and floods, but losses from other hazards are mounting. Lightning, landslides, flash floods, extreme rainfall and heatwaves are increasingly testing the country’s preparedness.

As Bangladesh marks International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on Tuesday under the theme “Start at home, build a disaster-resilient country”, experts warn that early warnings must reach vulnerable communities in time.

The United Nations General Assembly initiated the observance in 1989 to promote awareness and preparedness. In 2009, it designated Oct 13 as the annual date.

Changing Pattern of Disasters

Dr Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik, a meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s (BMD) Storm Warning Centre, identifies natural processes and human activity as the two principal causes of disasters.

“Disasters have two main causes. One is natural, and the other is man-made. Global warming driven by climate change is one factor. It is disrupting atmospheric circulation across the world.”

He says lightning and landslides are becoming more frequent over short periods, challenging meteorologists and climate scientists because such events can strike with little warning.

“The first thing we need to do is improve early-warning systems.”

Those systems must then reach people at the grassroots, he says.

Mallik says El Nino is currently strong and could persist until February 2027, potentially reducing rainfall and raising temperatures across South Asia.

“Bangladesh will feel its effects, too. Rainfall was somewhat lower in Bangladesh during the monsoon. Temperatures continued to feel hot through September and October.”

He expects short spells of heat, cold and rain to become more intense. Although the number of depressions and cyclones forming in the Bay of Bengal has declined since independence, he says storms can still intensify into super cyclones.

On Jul 7, Chattogram recorded 412mm of rain, its highest one-day total in four decades. A week later, around 97mm of rainfall left parts of Dhaka waterlogged for hours.

AKM Saiful Islam, a professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s Institute of Water and Flood Management, says flash floods have become more frequent in southern and southeastern districts.

Dr Mohan Kumar Das, executive director of the Hydro-Climate and Ocean Centre, says rainfall patterns are changing. Research indicates that prolonged dry spells during the monsoon are increasingly followed by intense downpours.

Even without a substantial rise in total seasonal rainfall, extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent and severe.

Lightning and Landslides Take a Growing Toll

A study based on 30 years of data, titled An Overview of Thunderstorms Over Bangladesh, found that lightning occurs on as many as 66 days a year.

May sees the most strikes, while December sees the fewest. Published in the Bangladesh Journal of Physics in June 2022, the research identified the northeast as the country’s most lightning-prone region.

Mallik, who contributed to the study, says Sylhet is now a lightning hotspot, while strikes are also increasing in areas including Faridpur and Dhaka.

Bangladesh experiences an estimated 3.36 million lightning strikes annually, killing around 300 to 350 people.

Lightning was declared a disaster in 2016. Efforts to plant palm trees were abandoned, while projects to install lightning rods in high-risk areas have produced limited results. Authorities are now seeking a more integrated solution.

Department of Disaster Management figures show that 173 people died from lightning in 2025, compared with 272 in 2024 and 322 in 2023. At least 100 had died by May this year, including 14 on Apr 26 alone.

Former Meteorological Department director Azizur Rahman says climate change has made lightning a greater concern than cyclones in terms of recurring fatalities.

“More than 100,000 people died in cyclones over 50 years. That figure has now fallen to single digits, but lightning kills 200 to 300 people every year.”

Although forecasts are issued, he says they often fail to reach farmers working in the fields.

“Bangladesh has yet to develop a mechanism to reach marginal farmers working in the fields. Lightning has now become an extreme disaster compared with cyclones.”

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu told parliament on Apr 27 that lightning deaths were particularly common in the haor areas and the north, where more than 25 strikes can occur per square kilometre.

“Lightning does not happen without any advance warning, like an earthquake. If people take shelter when dense clouds gather, deaths will decrease. That is why plans have been made to install sirens in the Haor areas, so farmers working in the fields can reach safety in time.”

Landslides remain another major threat. As many as 150 people died in June 2017 during prolonged rainfall, while 127 were killed in June 2007.

In July this year, landslides killed 34 people in Cox’s Bazar, Chattogram, Rangamati and Bandarban.

Alexander Tripura, head of Caritas Bangladesh’s disaster management department, says community awareness and early-warning measures have helped protect people in high-risk hill areas.

A five-to-six-year pilot programme covered 33 high-risk areas.

“Despite severe landslides, not a single person died in the pilot areas this time because volunteers and protocols were in place.”

He says an estimated 2.3 million to 2.7 million people live in landslide-prone areas across seven districts in Sylhet, the Chattogram Hill Tracts, Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar.

Preparedness Must Reach Communities

Department of Disaster Management Director General Rezwanur Rahman says authorities are developing landslide warnings and involving local communities, religious institutions and educational establishments through union-level disaster management committees. Experts from Dhaka University and BUET have also been consulted on lightning mitigation.

He says preparations for seasonal floods have improved through forecasting and support from government agencies, NGOs and development partners.

Yet disasters caused Tk 438.29 billion in financial damage between 2021 and 2025, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. They killed 2,533 people.

• Floods caused Tk 298.6 billion in damage, cyclones Tk 117.36 billion, fires Tk 20.2 billion, lightning Tk 1.05 billion and earthquakes Tk 1.08 billion.

• Lightning accounted for 59.5 percent of disaster deaths over the five years.

• Annual deaths fell from 603 in 2021 to 398 in 2025, although the toll fluctuated in between.

• The five-year death toll included 197 from floods, 52 from cyclones, 654 from fires, 1,530 from lightning, 10 from earthquakes and 90 from landslides.

Mohammad Moniruzzaman Khan, director of Dhaka University’s Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, says disaster management must remain above partisan politics.

“Politics must not be brought into disaster management. Disasters affect everyone, and they must be addressed collectively. The approach must be inclusive of all people in society.”

Writer and disaster management expert Gawhar Nayeem Wahra says local government and communities must play a central role.

“To save lives, the wrong practices must stop. Cyclone shelters and cyclone warnings are not suitable for people at present. The government must listen to people and involve them in implementing every project.”

Bangladesh has made progress in reducing deaths from major disasters. But experts say that progress will be difficult to sustain unless warnings reach people in time and preparedness reflects the changing threats facing the communities most at risk.