Silver Spring, Maryland—In the wake of destruction left behind when Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh in November 2007, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is continuing its emergency relief assistance for survivors devastated by the tropical cyclone.

In response to the requests of local authorities, ADRA is providing emergency food, shelter, and non-food relief assistance for nearly 3,300 additional households in village communities in Amtoli, a sub-district of Barguna, one of the nine districts worst affected by the cyclone. The villages, which include Dhakin Jarakhali, Chaulapara and Uttar Jarakhali, suffered heavy human and material losses, with 236 people dead, 400 missing, and 500 injured. Approximately 85 percent of homes were destroyed, 90 percent of crops were damaged, and 69 percent of livestock was lost.

Each household will receive a two-week packet of emergency food, including rice, lentils, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and oral-rehydration salts. Beneficiaries will also receive emergency temporary shelter materials and non-food relief items, such as bedding, household kits, and vegetable seeds to assist families as they return to their daily lives.

The four-week project, valued at approximately $250,000, is financed by ADRA International, the ADRA Asia Regional Office located in Bangkok, Thailand, and ADRA network offices in the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal, Japan, the Netherlands, and Austria.

In addition, ADRA is helping to prevent the risk of water-borne diseases in Amtoli by providing access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities to approximately 7,800 individuals. In a nine-month project that began January 1, ADRA will install 65 deep tube wells and construct 1,300 household latrines in dozens of communities throughout the sub-district. Worth an estimated $154,000, the water and sanitation project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency through ADRA Sweden.

ADRA plans to continue to provide emergency and long-term recovery assistance for the communities heavily affected by Cyclone Sidr.

On the evening of November 15, Cyclone Sidr, struck islands offshore of Bangladesh with Category 4 winds, making landfall across the southern coast with winds up to 155 miles per hour. An estimated 31 of Bangladesh's 64 districts were affected by the storm, resulting in considerable damage to the southern districts as it moved north across central Bangladesh.

Emergency response teams based out of the ADRA Bangladesh office in Dhaka worked with local authorities in cyclone-affected areas to assess the damages and the most urgent needs. ADRA's initial relief response provided food, including two types of rice, sugar, salt, lentils, and oral rehydration solution for 927 households (about 5,000 individuals) in the hard-hit district of Barguna, specifically the villages of Chorpara and Sadagorpara, where 36 people lost their lives and 100 percent of houses were destroyed.

Recent reports from the Bangladeshi government indicate that as of December 31, at least 3,300 people have died as a result of the storm, with an additional 871 missing, and more than 8.5 million affected. More than 1,500,000 homes have been damaged, with more than 2.4 million acres of crops sustaining damage.

To donate to ADRA's emergency response effort to aid survivors of Cyclone Sidr and other natural disasters, please contact ADRA at 1.800.424.ADRA (2372) or donate online to ADRA's Emergency Response fund at www.adra.org.

Updates will be released as ADRA's response efforts expand.

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

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Author: Nadia McGill

Media Contact: Kara Watkins ADRA International 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 Phone: 301.680.6357 Mobile: 301.526.2625 E-mail: Media.Inquiries@adra.org