Simple lack of
warning and information is often a factor in increasing casualties from a
disaster. Now Bangladesh, one of the
poorest, most low-lying and most densely populated nations on earth is trying to harness the
power of radio to improve things.
Six local community stations have
started broadcasting, another 8 have been approved, and applications are in for 22 more. Bazlur Rahman, chief executive
officer of Bangladesh’s Network for Radio and Communication, says most people in
the countryside are illiterate, but that they ‘can easily understand weather
bulletins and other instructions' when they are broadcast in local dialects.
A
local fisherman said crews are encouraged to carry radios with them, so they
can return home quickly if there is any danger. One community station plans to provide a
free solar-powered radio to each cyclone shelter so people can receive safety
instructions while they are sheltering there.
In
1970, Bangladesh fell victim to the most disastrous storm in history, which
killed up to a million people. Most had
no warning of what was happening until huge waves crashed upon them.
*From those nice people at the MACE archive - a report I did on the death of Imperial Typewriters at Leicester in 1975.
http://www.macearchive.org/archive.html?Title=22712
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