| Sumario: | Poorer groups are exposed to increased vulnerabilities during periods of floods. Some of
the difficulties faced by them include loss of possessions, fears of extortion and looting,
and separation from their social network. The poor undertake different coping strategies
to adapt to the floods such as abandoning land or housing, salvaging household items,
selling land or livestock, and moving housing or family members to safer places.
Perceptions of loss of the poor seem to be far more affected by damages in personal
livelihood, and less by the overall scale of losses in the area. Women and children are
often the most vulnerable groups during such disasters. Lack of sanitation facilities
affected women badly. A majority of the latrines were submerged and inaccessible. This
resulted in loss of privacy and shame for the women, with most being forced to defecate
in their own homes. Some women were able to access, with great difficulty, latrines
outside their neighbouring area. Floods usually result in an acute scarcity of safe
drinking water clue to the contamination of water sources, such as tube-wells and reserve
tanks. This adversely affects the existing poor health conditions of slum dwellers. There
were numerous reports of diarrhoea and other illnesses amongst both children and
adults. The floods left most of the urban poor unemployed. This resulted in an increase in
tension and domestic violence, particularly towards women. In some areas, BRAC
members were pressured into repaying loans even though most were severely affected by.
the floods. Furthermore, NGOs chose to implement separate flood relief strategies
instead of co-ordinating their efforts.
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