DHAKA, Bangladesh — Hundreds of thousands of survivors were stuck Saturday behind roads blocked by fallen trees, iron roofs and thick sludge as rescue workers fought to reach towns along Bangladesh’s coast that were ravaged by a powerful cyclone that killed at least 1,784 people.
Tropical Cyclone Sidr, the deadliest storm to hit the country in a decade, destroyed tens of thousands of homes in southwest Bangladesh on Thursday and ruined much-needed crops just before harvest season in this impoverished, low-lying South Asian country. More than a million coastal villagers were forced to evacuate to government shelters.
The official death toll rose to 1,784 and authorities feared the figure could rise further as the country works to recover.
The government scrambled Saturday to join international agencies and local officials in the rescue mission, deploying military helicopters, thousands of troops and naval ships.
Rescuers trying to get food and water to people stranded by flooding struggled to clear roads that were so bad they said they’ll have to return on bicycles.
Along the coast, 150 mph winds flung small ferries ashore like toy boats, cutting off migrant fishing communities who live on and around hundreds of tiny islands across the area’s web of river channels.
Many of the evacuees who managed to return home Saturday found their straw and bamboo huts had been flattened by the storm.
“We survived, but what we need now is help to rebuild our homes,” said Chand Miah, a resident of Maran Char, a small island in Khulna district.
“Advance warnings from the weather office helped us take shelter, but still, the damage is colossal,” said Abu Hanif, 60, a Bagerhat resident.
The government has allocated $5.2 million in emergency aid for rebuilding houses in the cyclone-affected areas, a government statement said.
Aid organizations feared that food shortages and contaminated water could lead to widespread problems if people remain stranded.
Television images showed crowds of people scrambling beneath military helicopters as troops dropped food packages through open hatches.
At least 1.5 million coastal villagers had fled to shelters where they were given emergency rations, said senior government official Ali Imam Majumder in Dhaka.
Many parts of Dhaka, the biggest city in this poor, desperately crowded nation of 150 million people, remained without power or water Saturday.
The White House said the U.S. government has provided an initial $2.1 million in emergency relief aide and that the USS Essex and the USS Kearsage are en route to Bangladesh to help. The U.S. will airlift 35 tons of nonfood items such as plastic sheeting, hygiene kits and other supplies.
An 18-person Defense Department medical team that was already in the country will help with current medical needs.
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