Monsoon-triggered flash floods and landslides have killed at least 50 people across southeastern Bangladesh over the past week, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and cutting off more than a million residents, according to local authorities. The Chattogram division bore the brunt of the disaster, where the divisional commissioner reported that 29 people were buried by landslides and two remain missing. Some 35,000 people have sought refuge in government-run shelters, while army and border guard personnel ferry food, drinking water and medical supplies by boat to communities isolated by floodwaters.

In the worst-affected areas, residents described wading through chest-deep water to bury relatives on bamboo rafts after cemeteries submerged. Authorities have opened approximately 4,000 shelters, but shortages of safe water and food are deepening the crisis, with many families unable to cook for days as mud and water fill their homes. The disaster management ministry said that flooding across seven districts — including Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Rangamati — had disrupted daily life and left nearly 268,000 households stranded.

Heavy rains earlier in the week also triggered landslides in the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, killing at least 15 people. More than 1.2 million refugees live in congested shelters on deforested hillsides, a terrain that becomes highly unstable during the monsoon. Scientists note that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events in this low-lying delta nation, which is criss-crossed by rivers and routinely exposed to seasonal flooding.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre in Dhaka said conditions in the southeast were likely to improve soon, but warned that the monsoon remains active over northeastern and northern Bangladesh, with a possibility of further inundation. The death toll remains provisional as rescue and relief operations continue and communication with remote areas is gradually restored.