3 hours of rain submerge Sylhet, trigger severe waterlogging

In just three hours of heavy rain, most of Sylhet city was flooded, causing serious waterlogging and immense suffering for residents.

The rainwater reached knee to waist level in several neighborhoods, paralyzing normal life.

The Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet, was similarly inundated, resulting in considerable distress for both patients and medical personnel.

Although the sky remained overcast throughout Saturday morning, no significant rainfall occurred until noon. Starting at 12pm, a deluge of torrential rain persisted until 3pm.

According to Omar Faruk, a meteorologist at the Sylhet Weather Office, an impressive 156 millimetres (mm) of precipitation was documented between 12pm and 3pm on Saturday.

Additionally, 1mm of rainfall was recorded between 6am-9am, and 7mm between 9am-12pm. In the 24 hours from 6am Friday to 6am Saturday, 132mm of rainfall was recorded.

A field survey of various inundated locales within the city unveiled that regions such as Hawapara, Pathantula, Londoni Road, Sagardighirpar, Subidbazar, Shibganj, Majortila, Tilagor, Kuarpur (Inggulal Road and Upashahar), Machimpur, and the South Surma Railgate were profoundly impacted, leaving residents in a state of distress.

Mohibur Rahman, a resident of Hawapara, reported that the streets were inundated with water reaching knee to waist height, preventing numerous individuals from attending the Zuhr prayer at Hawapara Mosque.

Consequently, local establishments were compelled to cease operations due to the deluge.

In response to the waterlogging, the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) has promptly established a control room on the second floor of the SCC office.

SCC’s Chief Engineer Nur Azizur Rahman, confirmed the establishment of the control room, noting that a mere three hours of rainfall inundated the majority of the city.

Meanwhile, floodwaters from upstream hill runoff have inundated low-lying areas of Sylhet.

Local journalist Manzur Ahmed reported that floodwater is flowing with great force over the Gowainghat–Radhanagar Road in Gowainghat upazila.

According to the Water Development Board’s (WDB) 3pm bulletin on Saturday, although the water levels of Sylhet’s main rivers, Surma and Kushiyara, are still flowing below danger levels, they have risen compared to Friday.

As of 3pm on Saturday, the Surma River was flowing 113cm below danger level at the Kanaighat Point and 184cm below at the Sylhet Point.

Meanwhile, the Kushiyara River was flowing 267cm below danger level at the Amalshid Point and 307cm below at the Sheola Point.