“Heavy monsoon rains have caused several major rivers in Bangladesh to burst their banks, displacing thousands and affecting nearly a million people in all, according to the country’s Disaster Management Bureau (DMB),” IRIN reports.

Across the country, Ministry of Food and Disaster Management officials “are reporting a similar story: marooned and displaced people, destroyed crop fields and an urgent need for food, water and shelter,” according to the news service. “Aid workers reckon the risk of disease and loss of income will prove to be the long-term challenges for those hardest hit,” IRIN writes (8/22).