page_title: 1980s in Bangladesh
section_title: Natural disasters
hierarchical_section_title: 1980s in Bangladesh / Climate / Natural disasters
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ScaleTDTS12345 English: Cyclone 04B 1988 track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: The 1980s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1980, and ended on December 31, 1989. For Bangladesh this decade was characterized by economic hardship, natural disasters and military dictatorship. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ruled Bangladesh almost throughout the decade. Infrastructure development was slow but there was notable progress in local government administration, population control and NGO led microfinance activities which boosted the rural economy. The urge of freedom of speech and return to democracy influenced the cultural activities in the decade.
context_section_description: With severe flooding followed by tropical cyclone, 1988 was the year with the worst natural disasters in the decade, and probably one of the worst in the history of independent Bangladesh.  
  The country experienced heavy rain and flooding in August–September 1988. Nearly 25 million people were rendered homeless and official death toll exceeded 500. About 30,000 km of roads were partially destroyed and rice crop on 3.5 million hectares was destroyed or damaged. The situation started to improve in late September, but people rendered homeless due to the flood continued to struggle. Striking in November 1988, a cyclone exacerbated the catastrophic damage from what was then considered the worst floods in Bangladesh's history. The brunt of the tropical cyclone's damage was inflicted upon coastal areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal. A total of 6,240 people were killed as a result of the storm, with 5,708 in Bangladesh. Many of the deaths were a result of the destruction of homes or electrocution after strong winds toppled power poles across the region. Along the coast of Bangladesh, strong storm surge caused heavy infrastructure damage and contributed in wiping out an estimated 70% of all harvestable Bangladeshi crops, with an estimated 200,000 tonnes (220,000 tons) of crops being lost.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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