As the sun came out Saturday in Sylhet after four more days of heavy rain, the water level in all rivers and flood-hit areas started receding but that hardly eased the non-stop struggle life has been for its residents, many of them in areas cut off by waterlogging, since mid-June with food and fresh water crises still persisting. Until Friday morning total fatalities from the devastating flood rose to 95 with three more deaths from drowning and lightning strikes in the country, said the Directorate General of Health Services DGHS). According to the Water Development Board (WDB) in Sylhet, from Friday 6 am to Saturday 9 am water level decreased 11 cm at Sylhet point and 10 cm at Kanaighat point of the Surma river. Meanwhile the Kushiara river’s water level lowered 16 cm at Amalsid point, 5 cm at Sheola point, and 2 cm at Fenchuganj point. Lobha, Sari, and Dhalai rivers were also showing a receding trend. Also read: Floods wash away crops and hopes in Kurigram Asif Ahmed, executive engineer of Sylhet WDB, said, “The water is receding slowly but the flood situation is not expected to deteriorate in the next few days.” Due to heavy rains from June 15, and upstream water running down from India, Sylhet and other north-eastern districts of the country faced the most devastating flood in living memory. For almost 17 days 80 per cent of the district remained under water and normal life there came to a complete standstill. As tube wells of the flood-hit region also submerged, an extreme crisis of drinkable water and food became imminent in Sylhet. “Total 99 unions of 13 upazilas in the district were flooded. Of the 35,000 government tube wells in the district 27,000 were submerged along with 2,000 more private ones,” told Alamgir Hossain, executive engineer of district Department of Public Health Engineering. He said, “Eight mobile water treatment plants with capacity to supply 5,000 liters of water each have been received from the government. Of them six has been distributed to flood hit Sylhet city, COmpaniganj, Gowainghat, Kanaighat, Bishwanath, Fenchuganj and another two have been kept in reserve”. “We are campaigning to teach the steps to purify tube well water after flood water recedes,” he added. Ismail Ali, from Tererton area in the city said, “For eight days my house was under water and we just started cleaning the house today.” He mentioned another problem that came up with receding water - an all-encompassing, unbearable stench from rotten wastes. Nur Azizur Rahman, chief engineer of Sylhet City Corporation said “The city corporation is conducting a cleaning drive of the garbage from the canal and other water bodies. The whole city will be cleaned with bleaching powder.” Also read: More rain forecast, but flood situation likely to improve in 6 districts Saturday Meanwhile, Mukul Ahmed, a trader from Bangabir road said, “Though water went down from my shop the roads remained submerged for the 17 th day. My business has completely gone down and I don't know how many days the situation will remain like this.”

As the waters started receding following Sylhet division's worst flood in living memory, the disastrous damage it inflicted also became evident, along with the challenge any recovery effort will face in the days ahead. The death toll from the third flash flood of the year in Sylhet reached 52 till Sunday morning (from May 17), according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), but this is almost certainly an underestimate, with local sources claiming the toll to be much higher. Many areas haven't even been accessed, where the authorities have no idea of casualties. According to Sylhet District administration, around 22 lakh people from four lakh families are bearing the brunt of this terrible disaster while 80 percent of the area still remains under water as of Sunday. “Part of Sylhet City Corporation, all the 13 upazilas and five municipalities and 94 unions were affected in the district. The exact number of people facing the damages will be 21,87,232 (21 lakh 87 thousand 232)of 4,16,819 families (4 lakh 16 thousand 819),” said Ahsanul Alam, Assistant Commissioner of District Administration. He said 22,450 houses and 28,945 hectares of cropland have been damaged according to official estimation so far. However, locals are claiming the damage is vaster and the recovery will be long. Also read: Flood situation worsens in parts of Sylhet Bearing the brunt Tara Mia, 70, from Janigaon village, has not seen such a terrible flood in his entire life. “On June 16, when all of a sudden water started entering my house I took shelter near a high area beside Sylhet-Sunamganj highway and remained there since. None cares about us though, people come and speed away with their vehicles as we sit helplessly beside the road,” he said. Khushbu Begum, 60, from the same village said, ”Don’t know how we will get back to our homes after flood water lowers as it is filled with soil now.” Husnahar Banu, 35, who took shelter in a ramshackle cottage beside the highway with her six children, said,”We took refuge here 14 days ago and are not sure how many days we will need to spend on the roads. There is still water inside the home that we left.” Fifty-five-year-old Kahar Mia was more worried about his cattle as some of them had already washed away. “We can survive by eating flattened or parched rice but the helpless animals might die without their food,” he said. Akkas Ali, from Jaikar Kandi village in Kandigaon union, returned home from the shelter center on Saturday evening and broke down in tears as nothing but the foundation remained. “The floodwater took away everything but the clothes on our bodies. We are eating the relief provided by people. How will we build everything back now?” he wondered aloud as he was unsure how to bring back his family from the shelter as there is no home. Tahera Begum from Moiar Char village said,”For five days I took shelter in Badaghat High School and as I returned home found the toilet was broken and everything in the house was damaged. Repairing everything is the biggest challenge for everyone as the flood has snatched our income sources too."