The reach of the floods may spread to the central region next week as rains have continued along with flash floods from the upstream in India, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) of the Water Development Board.
The situation in Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Bogura, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Chattogram, Bandarban, Cox's Bazar and Nilphamari districts worsened on Friday while Chandpur, Sirajganj, Kurigram and Jamalpur were bracing for floods.
The districts will each receive 500 tents and be visited by medical teams within the next few days, he added.
FFWC Executive Engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan said heavy rainfall may continue in the upstream, especially India’s Assam, Meghalaya and Bihar, deteriorating the situation over the next week.
In Dhaka, heavy and incessant rains inundated different areas leaving commuters and pedestrians to suffer immensely.
Panicked people took refuge on dams in some areas as schools used as shelters were partially submerged.
In a warning, the Met Office said heavy (44-88 mm) to very heavy (over 89 mm) rainfall is likely to occur at places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Chattogram divisions until Saturday morning due to active monsoon over Bangladesh.
Very heavy rainfall may trigger landslide at places over the hilly regions of Chattogram division, it warned.
The death toll from drowning and other flood-related reasons reached 140 that year, though the spread of the floods were lesser than those of 1988 and 1998.