Tornado victims still under open sky

Around fifty families of Badiarchar village of Kamlabari union of Lalmonirhat's Aditmari upazila are still staying under the open sky as the hard-pressed people could not repair their houses damaged by the tornado that lashed the village on Saturday night.

The district administration distributed food items among the tornado victims on the night.

The victims, however, are yet to receive any assistance to repair the damaged houses.

Aklima Bewa, one of the victims, said all the three rooms of her family house were damaged by the storm.

"I along with family members are passing days under the open sky as we don't have the ability to repair the house," she said.

Nazrul Islam, a farm labourer of the village, is also in the same boat.

"The tornado destroyed all three rooms of my house. I and four other family members are staying under the open sky as I have no money to repair the damaged houses," he said.

"Without government's help, it is impossible to repair or build a new house," he added.

Farmer Abdul Mannan said four rooms of his house were damaged by the tornado and he has somehow repaired one of them.

"All the trees around my house got uprooted during the storm. My family is facing hardship due to the disaster," he said.

Faruk Imrul Kayes, chairman of Aditmari Upazila Parishad, said most of the families affected by the tornado are ultra-poor and depend on daily income as farm labourers.

"We have appealed to the district and upazila administrations for allocations to repair and rebuild the damaged houses of the tornado affected families," he said.

Aditmari Upazila Project Implementation Officer Mofizul Islam said, "We have prepared a list of 43 tornado victim families. They will receive government's assistance including corrugated iron sheets and money to rebuild the damaged houses soon."