After Cyclone Remal: Why One Storm Can Damage a Coastal Livelihood for Years

06 Aug 2026·5 min read

Cyclone Remal made landfall on 26 May 2024 and became one of the most damaging recent storms for the southern coastal districts of Bangladesh. The numbers were enormous. FAO reported that 4.6 million people were affected across Pirojpur, Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Patuakhali, Barguna, Barishal and Bhola. About 62,783 hectares of farmland were damaged, with crop losses estimated at US$90.7 million. UN assessments also recorded widespread damage to homes, water points, sanitation systems and embankments. Those figures capture the scale of the emergency, but they do not fully explain what a cyclone means for a household economy. A coastal family may lose a roof, a rice crop, a fishing net, poultry, stored seed, a pond full of fish and the road that connects the village to the market all in the same night. The family then enters recovery with less income precisely when expenses rise. The hidden chain of losses The most visible damage after a storm is physical: collapsed houses, washed-out roads and broken embankments. The less visible damage happens through a chain reaction. A farmer whose field is flooded with saline water may miss the next planting window. Even when the water disappears, the soil can remain unsuitable for sensitive crops. A livestock owner may lose animals directly or face a shortage of feed afterward. A fish farmer can lose an entire pond when floodwater overtops the boundary. A marine fisher may lose nets or a boat and then be unable to borrow enough money to restart. Small shopkeepers lose stock and customers at the same time. Market access is another major factor. If roads, jetties or local transport are damaged, producers cannot easily move fish, vegetables, milk or livestock. Perishable goods are especially vulnerable. A village may technically still be producing food while families lose income because the food cannot reach buyers at the right time. Water damage can become livelihood damage Cyclone Remal also demonstrated the close relationship between basic services and economic recovery. The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for the cyclone reported thousands of damaged water points and more than one hundred thousand damaged latrines. When safe water becomes scarce, families spend more time and money meeting basic needs. Illness can increase. Women and girls often carry additional care and water-collection burdens. That means repairing water and sanitation is not separate from restoring livelihoods. A family cannot return to normal work quickly if it must spend hours finding water, caring for sick relatives or living far from home in temporary shelter. For climate resilience, recovery programmes need to see the household as one connected system rather than treating shelter, water and income as unrelated sectors. Preparedness saved lives, now livelihoods need the same attention Bangladesh has built a globally respected cyclone preparedness system. Before Remal, early warning, evacuation and thousands of shelters helped reduce loss of life. WFP also used anticipatory action, sending cash assistance to 30,000 high-risk families before landfall in five southern districts. That approach is important because a small amount of money before a storm can help a household buy food, protect livestock, move equipment or pay for transport. The next frontier is to apply the same anticipatory thinking to livelihoods. For example, farmers could receive localised advice on harvesting early, moving seed or livestock, protecting irrigation pumps and securing agricultural inputs. Fishers could receive stronger systems for protecting boats, nets and engines. Local governments could pre-position materials for rapid embankment repair in locations where a breach would expose farmland and freshwater ponds. Recovery should not mean rebuilding the same vulnerability After a major cyclone, the pressure is to restore what existed before. But climate change makes simple replacement a weak long-term strategy. If a house is rebuilt at the same low elevation with the same fragile materials, or if a pond is restored without protection from saline surge, the next storm can erase the investment again. “Build back better” can sound like a development slogan, but at village level it has practical meaning. It can mean raising plinths, improving drainage, strengthening embankments, planting protective vegetation, designing livestock shelters, installing rainwater systems, diversifying crops and creating savings or insurance mechanisms. It can also mean better market infrastructure so that local producers recover more quickly. Livelihood diversification is especially important. A household that depends entirely on one seasonal crop or one fishing asset can be pushed into debt by a single cyclone. Multiple income sources agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, home-based enterprises, wage work and small trade can spread risk. The real measure of resilience A cyclone headline usually lasts a few days. Recovery can last several years. Families may repay loans taken to rebuild homes, replace fishing gear or buy seed. Students may leave school to work. Working-age adults may migrate temporarily or permanently. Women may take on new income-generating roles while still carrying unpaid care work. These are climate impacts too, even though they do not appear on a satellite image of the storm. Cyclone Remal is therefore a useful case study for understanding climate change and livelihoods in coastal Bangladesh. The danger is not only that stronger storms may occur. It is that repeated shocks arrive before households have rebuilt their financial buffers. A family that can survive one cyclone may not be able to survive the second or third without falling into debt. The most resilient coast will be one where early warning protects both life and livelihood, where embankments and water systems are repaired before the next season, and where recovery money helps households reduce future risk instead of simply replacing what was lost. The wind may last hours. Good resilience planning must think in years. Sources and further reading

FAO Bangladesh (12 November 2024), “FAO Bangladesh Distributes Agriculture and Livestock Inputs to Cyclone Remal and Eastern Flash Floods Affected Farmers.” https://www.fao.org/bangladesh/news/detail/FAO-Bangladesh-Distributes-Agriculture-and-Livestock-Inputs-to-Cyclone-Remal-and-Eastern-Flash-Floods-Affected-Farmers/en
United Nations in Bangladesh (9 June 2024), “HCTT Humanitarian Response Plan 2024 for Cyclone Remal, June–Dec 2024.” https://bangladesh.un.org/en/271122-hctt-humanitarian-response-plan-2024-cyclone-remal-june-%E2%80%93-dec-2024
United Nations in Bangladesh / WFP (27 May 2024), anticipatory cash assistance ahead of Cyclone Remal. https://bangladesh.un.org/en/269696-ahead-cyclone-remal-wfp%E2%80%99s-anticipatory-action-cash-assistance-reaches-over-30000-families