You can support MAF through prayer! Visit often to learn how you can pray for our missionaries, ministries, and more!People of Cyclone-Ravaged Bangladesh Grateful for Work of MAF “Sea Angel”
By Chad Tilley, Director of Operations and Chief Pilot for MAF in Bangladesh
The town is called Patharghata, and it is “ground zero” for where Cyclone Sidr hit.
We are there.
The morning newspaper is calling it “the valley of death.” We spoke to the local fishermen as our passengers from the Red Cross and the Swedish and Australian High Commission went ashore. The fishermen described the storm as the worst to hit in living memory.
Cyclone Sidr Destruction
Photo by Rune Karlsson, MAF
The night the storm hit, 300 people crowded in and closed the door, leaving thousands outside begging to be allowed in.
The wall of water that hit the town was estimated by witnesses to be six to eight meters high. It was accompanied by 260-km per hour winds. The water was said to have pushed inland and churned throughout the city for nearly 30 minutes.
Families tied themselves together with ropes and then attached the ropes to large trees.
After the cyclone moved farther inland, the villagers said all of the water suddenly rushed out of the town and back to sea, pulling thousands of people and hundreds of animals and homes with it. They explained it to me simply by saying it was like pulling the plug on the drain in your bathtub.
The local people say at least 2,000 died in this city alone. Without fresh drinking water, thousands more sicken each day.
Fishermen begging for water approached our plane as we anchored in the river next to the town. Water is desperately needed in all the areas where the cyclone hit.
The Patharghata story is similar to that of many cities along the coast and hundreds of cities and villages throughout southern Bangladesh. Reports indicate the cyclone was hundreds of kilometers wide, so the path of devastation is wide-spread. Further inland, the situation is still extremely bad.
Most people who live in this very poor region of Bangladesh have homes made of straw or wood with a tin roof. The storm wiped the homes completely away, leaving little evidence they had been there. Many villages are completely gone.
MAF Responds
Photo by Rune Karlsson, MAF
Even under normal conditions, this area is very difficult to reach by road. After the cyclone, roads are covered with debris and fallen trees, making passage impossible.
The MAF C208 Caravan Amphibian is the only civilian aircraft able to respond in this crisis. The MAF office is dealing with more flight requests than it can handle.
I landed in Barisal today, and as I spoke to a Bangladeshi Army major who is helping coordinate the government’s response, I introduced myself as the pilot of the MAF “seaplane.”
He corrected me by saying, “No, Captain Chad, the people of this country are calling the aircraft the ‘Sea Angel!’”
Let us pray that in this time of great need and tragedy, God’s love, grace and mercy will pour out on the people of Bangladesh and that through it, they will be drawn to Him.