EIS Flood / Cyclone Alert, Grameenphone and Teletalk, Bangladesh
When a cyclone is about to hit the shores of Bangladesh, locals in the area get an early warning of what is to come by the 42,000 volunteers of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society who move around with bicycles and megaphones with advice on whether to evacuate homes.
But some of the more remote disaster-prone areas are not covered by volunteers and often villagers have no idea that their homes are likely to be flooded or that a severe cyclone is heading their way.
In a bid to minimise loss of life and damage to property, Bangladeshi authorities have now signed an agreement with two mobile operators in the country to provide disaster early warning alerts to the population, 95% of which have mobile coverage.
When needed, Grameenphone and state-owned Teletalk will send text messages showing up as alerts to all their subscribers in two of the most vulnerable areas: flood-prone north-central Shirajganj district and cyclone-prone Cox's Bazar district on the coast.
