Met office forecasts rain until Tuesday

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department says the ongoing rain will persist until Tuesday and temperatures will start to rise slowly from Wednesday.

Severe Cyclone Remal has weakened into a land depression over the country and will lead to scattered rain in different parts of the country on Tuesday, according to meteorologist Kazi Jebunnesa.

“But the rain tomorrow won’t be like what we’re seeing today. Today it’s raining across the country. Temperatures across the country will start to rise again after May 28. There is no possibility of another heatwave this month, but there might be a couple of rounds of brief, scattered heatwaves in June.”

Cox’s Bazar’s Kutubdia saw the most rain in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday, recording 125mm of rain. Chattogram, Patuakhali, Khulna, Satkhira, and many other areas also saw rain, reports bdnews24.com.

There may be light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty winds across most of the country, according to the forecast for the following 24 hours. Some other areas may see moderately heavy to very heavy rain.

The forecast says day and night temperatures may drop by 1-2 degrees Celsius across the country. The highest temperature recorded on Sunday was 37.5 degrees Celsius in Netrokona and Sylhet.

COMMUTERS STRUGGLE IN THE RAIN

Commuters in Dhaka are struggling through the heavy rain that has been pouring down since the morning. Many were waiting for buses and other transport at Mirpur’s Kalshi.

Many of them were drenched, while others were taking shelter under the flyover.

Tahira Jannat, an employee at a private bank, was waiting for a way to get to her workplace in the Kuril Biswa Road area.

“The way it rained, the umbrella wasn’t of much help,” she said. “Nearly half my body is wet. And I can’t find a vehicle. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get one and when I’ll finally get to work. I can’t get a CNG [autorickshaw] either. I’ll surely catch a cold from getting drenched.”

Though no waterlogging could be seen, there was heavy traffic congestion from Mirpur’s Kalshi to Mohakhali’s Amtoli.

Joynul Ahmed, a private sector worker, was hunting for a CNG autorickshaw to go from the Mohakhali wet market area to Moghbazar. Autorickshaw drivers were asking for Tk 250 for the trip, though the typical fare is Tk 100 – Tk 150. Eventually, he was forced to pay.

On May 22, a low-pressure system formed in the Bay of Bengal, which gradually gathered strength and became a cyclonic storm on Saturday evening. Then it was named Remal. The cyclone turned into a severe cyclone on Sunday morning.

Under the influence of Remal, coastal areas started seeing heavy rain on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, the cyclone moved inland and weakened, but rainfall spread across the country.

So far four deaths related to the cyclone have been reported from three districts. Over 3 million people do not have power.

Due to tidal surges 7-8 feet higher than normal, embankments were breached in several districts, including Satkhira and Barguna. Hundreds of villages have been inundated by water entering the low-lying areas near the coast.

At least 20 villages were flooded in the Dakop and Koyra areas of Khulna on Sunday night amid the storm and heavy rain. Hundreds of shrimp cages were washed away, and hundreds of homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed.