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Also in August, a devastating mudslide destroyed communities in Sierra Leone. A national emergency has been declared after the city suffered heavy flooding, thought to be the worst in Africa over the past two decades. Freetown’s mayor, Sam Gibson, said 270 corpses had been recovered and were “being prepared for burial”, while the chief coroner told Reuters that nearly 400 bodies had been found. Estimates of the numbers missing vary: the Red Cross reported that 600 people have not been traced, while the country’s interior minister has said thousands are unaccounted for. Like most of Freetown, Regent is a mountainous village; the Portuguese explorers who named Sierra Leone derived its name from the mountains: Sera Lyoa - meaning "Lion Mountain". As I approached Regent I saw a massive red opening, part of what is a very green mountain. A huge chunk of Mount Sugar Loaf had caved in. I was shocked at seeing the way part of the mountain had peeled away. At that moment the number of casualties was not clear. When I arrived at the scene I could see the houses had disappeared, completely submerged by the mountain rug of red earth that had descended. Residents, believed to number between 600 and 1,000, lay buried beneath the mudslide. This is when the magnitude of the disaster dawned on me.

Almighty Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep: O hear us when we cry to thee For those in peril on the sea. O Christ, the Lord of hill and plain O'er which our traffic runs amain By mountain pass or valley low; Wherever, Lord, thy brethren go, Protect them by thy guarding hand From every peril on the land. O Spirit, whom the Father sent To spread abroad the firmament; O Wind of heaven, by thy might Save all who dare the eagle's flight, And keep them by thy watchful care From every peril in the air.

This baby died, they had no patch of land on which to bury her, so they consigned her to the waters....

Bangladesh