The southern districts of the country, including Bagerhat, experienced continuous rainfall on Wednesday morning following a prolonged heatwave, bringing both relief and concern for residents and farmers alike.
Rain began around 10 am and continued until about 11:30 am across Bagerhat and surrounding areas.
The downpour, accompanied by occasional gusty winds and thunder, led to waterlogging on several city roads including Sadhana More, Shaltala, Rahater More, Kharaddar other low-lying areas.
According to the Bagerhat Agriculture Department, 40 millimeters of rainfall was recorded within one and a half hours.
Officials said that the sudden rainfall and gusty winds damaged ripe paddy in several areas, flattening some crops in the fields.
Farmers in upazilas such as Kachua and Morelganj reported that harvested and standing ripe paddy submerged in water suffered visible damage due to the stormy weather.
Many expressed concern that already harvested crops left in fields could be further affected if the rain continues.
Agriculture officials said they are conducting field visits in various parts of the district, including Fakirhat and Mollahat, to assess the extent of the damage.
Deputy Director of the Bagerhat District Agricultural Extension Department, Md. Motahar Hossain, said that paddy cultivation this season covered 68,171 hectares in the district, with harvesting completed on around 12,000 hectares.
Approximately 5,000 hectares of harvested paddy remain stored in fields and are at risk of damage due to continued rainfall.
Motahar Hossain also said there has been a bumper harvest of Boro paddy in Bagerhat this year. The target was to produce 5.6 metric tonnes of paddy per hectare of land, but the yield has reached 7 tonnes per hectare.
Despite the agricultural concerns, the rain brought relief from the recent extreme heat, during which temperatures had reached 37.4°C.
The maximum temperature in Mongla was recorded at 30.7°C on Wednesday.
Residents described a noticeable drop in heat and more comfortable weather conditions following the rainfall, although waterlogging continued to disrupt daily movement in several parts of the town.
Officials from the Mongla Meteorological Office reported that 32 millimeters of rainfall were recorded in 24 hours till 3pm on Wednesday.
They also noted wind speeds of 35–38 km/h and said rain is likely to continue in several parts of the country over the next few days.
In response to changing weather conditions, the Meteorological Department advised maintaining local warning signal number 3 at four seaports, including Mongla.
With rivers such as the Bhairab and Daratana flowing at higher-than-normal levels and tidal influence increasing water flow, authorities are closely monitoring the situation.