Cyclone in Bangladesh: AREVA takes action

AREVA makes donation to the French Red Cross and supports the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies relief operations.

After Cyclone Sidr smashed into the shores of Bangladesh on November 15-16, AREVA pledged its support to relief operations there, with a 50,000-euro donation to the French Red Cross. AREVA's aid will supply 6,250 family emergency kits. Each kit, which contains soap, kitchen utensils, and more, provides a five-member family with what it needs for one month.

The latest fact sheet on Cyclone Sidr reports 2,997 dead, more than 34,508 injured, and more than 1,700 missing. The catastrophe has affected at least six million people, destroying as many as 500,000 houses and more than 1.7 million acres (700,000 hectares) of crops over 30 districts in the southwest of Bangladesh. Many sources of safe drinking water were contaminated.

Bangladesh's Red Crescent Society worked with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to distribute food and water, family packages, plastic tarpaulins and clothes to thousands of households in some of the most hard-hit areas. Eight medical teams were sent in, with ten others on their way.

Assessment updates show rising needs as communities that were cut off from the outside world are being accessed. The situation for children and the elderly is particularly critical.