COX'S BAZAR - A tidal surge triggered by a storm in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday flooded islands off the coast of Bangladesh and left about 3,000 people homeless, officials and residents said.
Most people took refuge in cyclone shelters as a two-metre (6 ft) surge swept through the islands of Kutubdia, Moheskhali and Saint Martin, they said.
The coastal district of Cox's Bazar was also hit.
"The sea water rose up and flooded our coastal village," said Faridul Alam, a shrimp farmer at Pukkhali, 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka.
The tidal surge also washed away more than 100 shrimp farms and part of a coastal boulevard in the resort town of Cox's Bazar.
Officials said it would take a couple of days to assess the damage.
An unknown number of fishermen were out fishing in the deep sea during the storm, said an official of the Cox's Bazar Fishing Boats Owners Association.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) warned of high waves during full tide unless a depression over the Bay of Bengal did not subside.
The agency cautioned local maritime ports on Monday of a probable storm due to a monsoon depression over the Bay of Bengal.
Storms kill hundreds of Bangladeshis every year and the country's worst cyclone left around 143,000 people dead in April 1991.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
