Fani, Bangladesh
CNN
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Wading through chest-high muddy floodwaters, hundreds of people slowly make their way to safety, their belongings held high above their heads to keep them dry.
Entering Fani, a city in southeastern Bangladesh, it becomes clear why it has been described as the epicenter of one of the country's worst floods in living memory. As of Wednesday night, water has engulfed 11 districts, and large parts of the city of about 1.5 million people are now submerged.
Bangladesh lives on its rivers and waterways – its people depend on fishing and rice farming for their main source of livelihood. The country is also well-acquainted with floods and storms — especially in recent years, as scientists say human-caused climate change increases extreme weather events.
But the floods caught them by surprise – and people here blame the authorities in India.
Dozens of people CNN met in Fani — just a few miles from the Indian border — accused New Delhi of releasing water from Dambor Dam in neighboring Tripura state without warning.
As we passed their houses, some people were shouting, “We hate India” and “This is India's water.”
“They opened the gate, but there was no report,” said Sharaful Islam, a 29-year-old IT worker who had returned from the capital Dhaka to volunteer in relief efforts in his hometown.
India denied the dam's release was deliberately delayed and said excessive rainfall was a factor – although it acknowledged that power outages and communication breakdowns meant it issued routine warnings to downstream neighbours. failed to do.
“India used water weapons. India is taking revenge for destroying the previous regime,” Islam said.
CNN joined two missions run by volunteers to deliver relief supplies and rescue vulnerable people in Fani.
The only way in or out of the flood zone is by boat – all main roads are completely closed to vehicles, and rescue efforts are being slowed by a power outage and a near-communications blackout in the city.
The army and navy have been mobilized to coordinate relief efforts – and a nationwide volunteer effort has been launched in the past few days, with people from Dhaka and other parts of the country helping to rescue and deliver aid. are arriving
Some of them are even returning to their hometowns to look for their families.
Volunteer Abdul Salam, 35 – who usually works as an English teacher in Dhaka – said 12 members of his family were stranded in a rural area 15 miles (25 km) from the center of Feni, including his Includes two sisters, brother and their children. .
“I don't know if he's alive,” he told CNN. “I cry a lot.”
“There is no electricity, no gas, no internet,” he added, calling on the international community to send help.
About 5 million people have been affected by the floods in Bangladesh, and at least 18 have died – but there are fears the toll could rise as floodwaters recede.
Officials in neighboring India say at least 26 people have been killed, and more than 64,000 are seeking refuge in relief camps in the Tripura region.
CNN's Anna Corinne reports from a rescue boat being manned by volunteers carrying aid to flood victims in Bangladesh. The CNN team was going to remote locations on a mission to pick up people who were unable to flee on foot.
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Watch Bangladesh flood from land
Flood victims in Bangladesh are now increasingly angry about the source of water coming into their homes.
According to Interim Government Press Secretary Shafiq Alam, India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma told Bangladesh's Interim Government that an “automatic release” had occurred in the dam due to high water levels.
But some believe politics played a role.
Naheed Islam, one of the two student representatives in Bangladesh's interim government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, said, “India has shown inhumanity by opening the dam without warning.”
Three weeks ago, Bangladesh turned student-led protests against job quotas into a nationwide movement to oust its longtime prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after she ordered a bloody crackdown, including Hundreds of people died.
Hasina fled to India by helicopter after tens of thousands of people marched on the capital and her residence on August 5. During her 15 years in power, Hasina forged strong ties with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is now serving an extraordinary third term.
After her ouster, there were reports of reprisal attacks against people believed to be loyal to Hasina's party – many of whom were Hindus – causing great concern in neighboring Hindu-majority India.
India's external affairs ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it was “not factually correct” to blame the flood on water released from the Dambor dam.
It said the flooding in Bangladesh was “primarily” caused by water from the large catchment areas of the Gumti River, which flows downstream from the dam.
“Flooding in the rivers shared between India and Bangladesh is a common problem that affects the people on both sides, and their solution requires close cooperation,” the statement said.
As the diplomatic row builds, rescue teams are working around the clock in the flood zone – where every rescue operation is a huge logistical challenge.
The usual four-hour drive from Dhaka is doubled as aid workers and volunteers from across the country try to access the flooded area. Boats are hard to come by – many families arrive to retrieve their relatives but then there is no way to reach them.
“I am helpless because I don't have a boat,” said Yasin Arafat, 24, trying to reach his father, mother, grandmother and younger brother from Dhaka.
He heard that 35 families in his village were clinging to the roof, including two pregnant women. But it's a three-hour boat ride from the city and they can't find a rescue boat to take him there.
“They have no water, no food, and they are very scared,” he said. “In the last 48 hours, I have not received any news.”
Even when people can source boats, parts of the city are on high ground — including railroad tracks — where boats need to be manually moved by dozens of volunteers.
The main highway through Feni has now turned into its main waterway – and is being used as the main route for people to get to dry land.
Few able to walk outside are wading through waist- or chest-high muddy water – risking waterborne diseases, snakes or drowning – trying to reach safety.
In the deepest parts of the flood it is impossible for many others to attempt to walk – so they are stranded in villages many kilometers from the city centre. Even boat trips to these areas are risky – passing through thick trees and swamps risks stalling engines or hitting hidden underwater obstacles in murky water.
Our boat passes a government building being used as a rescue center, where an estimated 500 people are sheltering.
Other multi-storey buildings – including a flooded hospital and several schools – are being used as temporary homes for those living in single-storey shacks that are now underwater. They are physically safe but lack food, water and medicine.
36-year-old Pyaara Akhtar is trying to save her sister Tanzina and her sick newborn from the rural outskirts of the city. She said that the 1-month-old baby was not eating for the past few days and needed to see a doctor.
“I'm worried that the kid won't make it,” Akhtar told CNN.
But after searching for an hour to get to the school where he believes his sister may be sheltering, there's no sign of them – a communications blackout adding to the mounting problems facing these rescue operations.
Akhtar makes his way home, hoping his sister has found another way there.
We continue further north with a different boat to witness the next rescue operation.
A Fani-born man who works as a security guard at a hospital in Qatar moved back to Bangladesh when he heard what was happening in his hometown.
He manages to source a boat in hopes of rescuing his 55-year-old mother, but her location is too far to reach her. Instead, he came to the shelter to retrieve other relatives.
A family of four – a mother, child and grandparents – struggles in a boat while climbing with the help of people on board. They are all tired and apparently hungry, snacking on nuts and dry fruits, and gulping down water.
“We are happy now,” said grandfather Mizanur Rahman Khan, 65. “We are safe.”
After darkness fell on Friday evening, rescue operations continued into the night to bring Fanny's families to safety.
The biggest hope in the city is that those trapped survive long enough for help to arrive – or for the floodwaters to recede.
CNN's Esha Mitra contributed reporting from New Delhi.