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(December 12, 2007) Tens of thousands of cyclone survivors in Bangladesh -- many of them children with little means to sustain themselves -- remain in critical need of assistance one week after a devastating storm struck the country's southern coast, killing more than 3,000 people, damaging hundreds of thousands of homes and closing thousands of schools.

Since the cyclone hit on November 15,  Save the Children has reached more than 130,000 survivors, including tens of thousands of children, with the basic necessities of survival, including food and clean water, but tens of thousands more families still are in need of critical assistance.

Kelly Stevenson, Save the Children's Country Director in Bangladesh, states "While many survived the cyclone itself, thousands of families are facing the real possibility of a second wave of death that can result from lack of clean water, food, shelter and medical supplies," Stevenson said. "We must continue to reach as many survivors as quickly as possible."

"Many families have lost everything, including their homes and their crops, and they are struggling to survive," Stevenson said. "We are appealing to the public to support our efforts to assist children and families affected by this disaster. We remain concerned about possible outbreaks of cholera and severe diarrhea due to the lack of access to clean water."

Save the Children estimates that 50 to 90 percent of the region's rice crop has been destroyed (1.6 million acres) and over 460,000 livestock killed, leaving up to 3 million people at risk of food shortages over the next six months. Children's health and access to education and families' loss of income are also of great concern. The Government of Bangladesh reports that more than 8.7 million people were affected, with a death toll of 3,295 people, 871 are still missing, and 52,808 were injured. Material damage is severe, with over 363,346 homes destroyed and a further 815,628 houses partially damaged.

The agency has begun distributing thousands of essential items for survival including high energy biscuits, plastic sheeting for tents, water containers, treatment for diarrhea, thousands of blankets and 100,000 water purification tablets.

In one area, Save the Children staff have used boats to ferry 2,000 liters of purified water across riverways to affected households. The agency also is operating three water ambulances to transfer injured patients to health facilities.  Affected areas still remain inaccessible by roads damaged or blocked by tons of rubble and uprooted trees.

The Canadian government has awarded a grant of $250,000 CAD to help 11,000 children and their families in Save the Children’s emergency program in the Districts of Barguna and Patuakhali.These funds will go towards supplies of jerricans (for storing and carrying clean water), water treatment tablets, household kits (containing things like plates, spoons, buckets and other basic materials), and health and hygiene kits.

Save the Children has been working in Bangladesh since 1972 and in recent years has worked closely with local and national authorities to prepare coastal communities for a severe cyclone. The agency conducted an emergency cyclone drill for some 10,000 residents living in the area where the cyclone struck as part of its own preparations.

For all media inquiries please contact Elysia Nisan, Communications Coordinator, at  enisan@savethechildren.ca