CYCLONE AILA – GUARDIAN IMAGES
Cyclone Aila caused widespread devastation in south-west Bangladesh when it struck in May 2009,
claiming lives, destroying homes and leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in flooded villages.
Three years on, NGOs are still striving to rebuild communities and improve the climate resilience of
local villages
Monday 23 January 201215.16 GMTLast modified on Monday 23 January
201215.18 GMT

The construction of dykes to keep flood waters at
bay has been central to relief efforts in south-west Bangladesh. Here, people are shown
walking in a flood-affected area
Richard Hanson/MAF
F
New houses built in flooded areas have been constructed on elevated platforms that raise
them several feet above the highest known level of the surrounding waters
Richard Hanson/MAF

Float planes, used by the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), take less than an hour to
reach south-west Bangladesh from Dhaka, saving NGO workers a 16-hour bus trip
Richard Hanson/MAF

The elevated housing erected behind the protection of the dykes includes toilet facilities
provided by the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movement
Richard Hanson/MAF

Assisted by a loan from the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, Tahermina has
established a small sewing business in Amadi, a village in south-west Bangladesh
Richard Hanson/MAF

Rokeya and her husband, Mohbaba, received a small business loan to raise chickens in a
house constructed in the aftermath of cyclone Alia
Richard Hanson/MAF

Pupils at a newly-built school in Amadi. MAF transported journalists into the areas hit by
cyclone Alia, also helping government agencies to devise crisis response strategies
Richard Hanson/MAF

Farmers in flood-affected areas of south-west Bangladesh grow saline-resistant rice,
protecting crops from the storm surges that allow sea water to gush into the fields
Richard Hanson/MAF

A school near Amadi teaches disaster preparedness. The school is supported by Brac, a
Bangladesh-based development organisation that works to reduce poverty
Richard Hanson/MAF

Brac aims to empower the poor to bring about change in their own lives. In Amadi, that
meant helping locals to rear shrimps to generate income
Richard Hanson/MAF

An aerial view of shrimp farms in south-western Bangladesh illustrates the crucial need for
solid flood defences
Richard Hanson/MAF
Years of the floods: building homes to withstand the
weather – in pictures
As cyclones, typhoons and floods become more frequent in Asia and the Pacific, NGOs are helping
communities build disaster-resilient homes

The United Nations Development Programme teamed up with architects from Brac to design and build
the first disaster-resilient habitat to protect properties from cyclones striking the Bay of Bengal.
Photograph: UNDP Bangladesh

The habitat in Shyamnagar, Satkhira district, Bangladesh, consists of 50 houses built on 2m concrete
stilts, designed to withstand a tidal surge of six feet and winds of up to 150mph.
Photograph: UNDP Bangladesh

A family from Cabadsan Barangay in the Philippines sit in front of their new resilient house, built with
help from Acted after their home was destroyed by typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm to ever make
landfall.
Photograph: Acted

In the provinces of central Vietnam, Development Workshop France trained local builders to help
families make their existing or new homes safer by applying principles of flood and storm resistant
construction: good connections, protected roof coverings, and solid windows and doors that can be
tightly shut.
Photograph: Development Workshop France

The strengthened houses respect local styles but no two are quite the same. Families have said they feel
much safer and are able to focus on other needs, such as health and schooling.
Photograph: Development Workshop France

In this settlement, built on a bump in the Bangladeshi flood plain, the bottoms of the buildings are
constructed with brick instead of bamboo, and the trees surrounding the village help to suck up flood
waters.
Photograph: Practical Action

For those living on flood protection embankments close to Bangladesh’s Brahmaputra and Teesta rivers,
floating gardens mean that crops can grow even when the area is submerged in water.
Photograph: Practical Action

This storm-resistant house was built as part of the Resilient Da Nang City project, funded by the
Rockefeller Foundation and implemented by ISET-International, and the Women’s Union of Da Nang.
The house withstood the 80mph winds and heavy rainfall of typhoon Nari that hit the coastal
Vietnamese city in 2013. This resident’s neighbours even retreated to her home for shelter from the
storm.
Photograph: ISET-International