A British Red Cross delegate has described the heartbreaking devastation wreaked by Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, which claimed around 3,000 lives and displaced millions from their homes.Anna Bifield, who is accompanying the emergency response unit (ERU) in Bangladesh, visited a village in Barguna District where 500 people were killed when the cyclone struck on 15 November.

"Everyone I spoke to has lost family members," she said. "It is really horrendous. A lot of the people are fishermen who live very close to the river, which is so wide it looks like the sea. The water rose 30 feet, came over the embankment and washed away all their homes."

Bangladesh family sorrow

She spoke to a woman, Tahmina, who lost her two sons, brother and mother in the cyclone.

"It was about 8pm when she saw the water and began screaming to warn their neighbours."As they found themselves suddenly cut off by the water, Tahmina's two sons, aged 12 and 20, decided to make their way to the Red Crescent cyclone shelter by swimming.

"Her 12-year-old son's last words were, 'I'm going to try and make it to the cyclone shelter, mum'. She found their bodies two days later."

Tahmina was swept away by the tidal wave but fortunately got caught in the fork of a tree and was washed up in the nearest village.

"She said she was so tired but just held on to the branches," Anna said.

Tahmina has since been reunited with her husband and young daughter but like many families their home and lives have been destroyed.

Distributing emergency relief in Bangladesh

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, working with the Bangladesh Red Crescent, is distributing food, blankets, plastic sheets and other relief items in Barguna District – one of nine districts being assisted.

The four-person British Red Cross ERU is co-ordinating the arrival of a large ship with emergency relief due to arrive in Bangladesh this week.

The team flew to Bangladesh last week joining more than 40,000 staff and volunteers, mainly from the Bangladesh Red Crescent, who had helped evacuate thousands of people to cyclone shelters before the cyclone struck.Despite their efforts, Sidr struck the impoverished South Asian country with 155 mph winds and a five metre tidal surge, affecting a total of five and a half million people. 

The British Red Cross team consists of Peter Glenister, 38, who lives in Essex, Claire Durham, 33, from Hounslow, Ian Roberts, 44, from Welshpool, Powys and Emily Knox, 32, from Hull.

The British Red Cross launched an appeal on 19 November, which has raised nearly £280,000, and subsequently joined forces with other leading charities under the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help those affected in Bangladesh.

Read the information sheet on the Bangladesh cyclone

Donate to the DEC Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal