Cyclone Sidr and Housing Sector

On 15 November 2007, super cyclone Sidr hit in Bangladesh with wind speed 240 km/h (category 4) and storm surges up to 6 meters in some areas caused 3406 deaths and affected 2.3 million households of one million were severely affected. Total damaged value was 79904 million BDT over the country including housing sector 57915 million BDT. The main objectives of the study were to find out the damage nature of family shelters due to cyclone Sidr; and assessing the recovery initiatives of family shelters. Data and information are mainly primary sources which have collected from 167 affected households of Sarankhola upazila Bagerhat. This study reveals that cyclonic wind pressure and associated storm surge was the main cause of houses collapse. Total 500 houses were damaged of 167 households. Government initiatives are negligible while NGOs and INGOs are the main players of recovering the family shelters. About 97.17 percent of severely affected families have acquired main houses from relevant organizations but all the reconstructing houses are not so strong because of their materials. After all, the inhabitants of the study area are happy because they have a roof over their head.