IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 842 

Expressing sympathy to and pledging the support of the House of Representatives and the people of the United States for the victims of Cyclone 

Sidr in southern Bangladesh. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2007 

Mr. ROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. MORAN

of Virginia, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. HONDA, Ms. MCCOLLUM

of Minnesota, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. LEE) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing sympathy to and pledging the support of the 

House of Representatives and the people of the United 

States for the victims of Cyclone Sidr in southern Bangladesh. 

Whereas on November 15, 2007, Cylcone Sidr hit the coast 

of southern Bangladesh with 155 mile-an-hour winds that 

smashed tens of thousands of homes, damaged roads and 

buildings, and caused a 16-foot tidal surge that ruined 

thousands of hectares of crops; 


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•HRES 842 IH 

Whereas early reports have branded the destruction from Cyclone Sidr as the worst in Bangladesh in 16 years; 

Whereas the resulting damage from the cyclone is estimated 

to have affected 4,000,000 people so far through evacuation from and loss of their homes; 

Whereas over half of the affected internally displaced population are children, an estimated 400,000 of whom are 

under the age of 5; 

Whereas Bangladesh’s Disaster Ministry now estimates that 

the homes of over 750,000 people were damaged or destroyed; 

Whereas the death toll from the cyclone is already at 3,500 

and continues to climb; 

Whereas the Bangladesh Red Crescent has warned that the 

number of dead could ultimately be as high as 10,000; 

Whereas as the 5 districts in southern Bangladesh that were 

most drastically affected by the cyclone are Patuakhali, 

Barguna, Bagerhat, Barisal, and Pirojpur; 

Whereas hundreds of thousands of people in remote areas of 

Patuakhali and Barguna are currently cut off from relief 

operations, which has caused widespread starving and 

suffering from the lack of access to drinking water and 

medicines; 

Whereas one relief worker commented that Bagerhat looked 

like a ‘‘valley of death’’ in the days after the storm; 

Whereas an entire island in Barisal, another district of southern Bangladesh, was submerged under at least 6 feet of 

water and houses were blown away by winds; 

Whereas in Pirojpur it is estimated that it will take at least 

1 week to restore the power supply; 


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Whereas the capital, Dhaka, which is located over 130 miles 

away from the devastated southern coastline, was also 

impacted by storm, losing access to power and water for 

days; 

Whereas a massive tidal wave that was caused by Cyclone 

Sidr hit the Sunderbans, the world’s biggest mangrove 

forest that is home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, 

leaving a wake of death and destruction that have caused 

experts to declare the forest an ‘‘ecological disaster’’; 

Whereas officials at the United Nations World Food Program 

have appealed for international aid to help save lives in 

Bangladesh, noting that food supplies have been severely 

disrupted by the cyclone and that there was risk of famine; and 

Whereas, due to the limited access to water supply and sanitation facilities that millions of Bangladeshis will face, 

health officials have begun warning against the serious 

possibility of cholera, dysentery, and other waterborne 

diseases: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) expresses its heartfelt sympathy for the vic3 tims of Cyclone Sidr, which has affected southern 

4 Bangladesh; 

5 (2) conveys its sincere support to the people of 

6 Bangladesh; 

7 (3) urges the United States Government to im8 mediately make available all appropriate assistance 

9 requested by the Bangladeshi authorities; and 


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•HRES 842 IH 

1 (4) reaffirms its commitment to provide relief 

2 aid to the victims as the effects of the cyclone con3 tinue to unfold. 

Æ 


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