Surrounded by clay, stagnant seawater and ruins, Bikash Das and his wife Konika Das sit on the remains of their collapsed shanty to tell their terrifying story. With them are six-year-old Sagor and his baby brother Chayon, eight months.

This family represent only four of around 5 million Bangladeshi people affected by Cyclone Aila on May 25. The tropical storm and flood waters claimed the lives of around 275 people and damaged or destroyed more than six hundred thousand houses.

Bikash’s son Sagor lost his books and school supplies, washed away with everything else the family owned.

“This is my house where I used to live,” he says, indicating the collapsed roof he is sitting on. “My school bag, books, everything has been washed away. We could not save anything from our house. The shirt I am wearing now belongs to my cousin.”

This community was badly hit by a wall of water when river banks exploded under the pressure of Cyclone Aila’s deluge. Trying to save their home, Bikash and his family almost left it too late to evacuate.

Preparations for the storm had started the day before, when World Vision volunteers and local government representatives divided into small groups to reach communities in the line of the storm.

“All the 12 staff members of our area development programme, plus 100 volunteers, were actively spreading the word,” explains Francis Juran Mondol, manager of World Vision’s Assasuni development programme. “As well as using loudspeakers, our volunteers also rushed from house to house to tell people to take shelter.”

As the water in the nearby Khulpatua River rose alarmingly, the call went out for workers to try and reinforce the embankments.

“My brothers and I rushed to the river with spades and whatever other tools we had to hand,” said Bikash. “But within five minutes, we realised it would break, because the water current had already started up and the wind speed was massive.”

“Our wives and children were still at home.”

Giving up, the men ran as fast as they could back to their homes, but, says Bikash, the water was coming even faster.

“My wife, with our sons in her arms, was standing in water up to her chest, supported by a tree,” he says. “I took Sagor and told her to hold on to me to get to a safe place.”

“There were many people with us fighting to get to safety,” Bikash remembers. “Some of them could not keep the clothes on their bodies and were running naked to save their lives.”

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The next morning a local NGO brought dry food rations, and the local government office provided a first distribution of rice.

World Vision stepped in after assessments with a tailored 7-day relief package to around 85,000 people, including around 5,000 families of sponsored children, in the areas of Mongla, Laudobe, Assasuni and Shaymnagar.

“The quality of World Vision’s packages is very good,” says Bikesh. “The package will actually last us around 10 days.”

One calamity facing this community is the salination of local water supplies. Most of the ponds have been contaminated and are undrinkable, and tube-well water is also now too salty to draw.

A World Vision water-purifying unit donated by USAID was quickly installed at one of the contaminated ponds and is now producing 10,000 litres of safe water daily. World Vision volunteers are also using tanks to distribute fresh water to families still sheltering in schools and other public buildings.

Bikash is honest in pleading for more support. With his rickshaw smashed in the waves, he has also lost his only means of livelihood. However he says there are two urgent rebuilding needs – to replace his house and to ensure the embankment is properly mended.

“If the embankment is not rebuilt, there are possibilities that our homestead will be flooded again and again. We could never live there again!”

Bikash also says they need stronger houses. Bricks, cement and foundations would help houses to stand up against the storm.

“We will try to rebuild our houses using leaves, branches and debris from the ruins. But a shack like that will not be a safe place for us and for our children. We need support to rebuild a stronger house, and also to get our jobs back.”