Bangladesh, being situated on the Brahmaputra River Delta (also known as the Ganges Delta) is a land of many rivers, and as a result is very prone to flooding. Due to being part of such a basin and being less than 5 meters above mean sea level, Bangladesh faces the cumulative effects of floods due to water flashing from nearby hills, the accumulation of the inflow of water from upstream catchments, and locally heavy rainfall enhanced by drainage congestion. Bangladesh faces this problem almost every year.

Flooding from prolonged heavy rains on 18–19 June inundated the Haor region in Northeastern Bangladesh, with Sylhet experiencing 242 mm of rainfall, and the Sunamganj district experiencing 223 mm, exceeding the monthly average for both.^[1]

The resulting flash floods and landslides affected at least 2.1 million people throughout Bangladesh, requiring nearly 30,000 people to evacuate to shelter centers. In Northeast Bangladesh, several displaced families were observed wandering for shelter. Nearly 75% of the area of Sylhet District was flooded, which included 23 Sylhet city wards as well as 1,548 villages in thirteen administrative divisions, affecting over 825,000 people directly. In Sunamganj District, flooding affected at least 560,000 people.^[2] UNICEF reports stated that 772,000 children were affected by flash flooding in Bangladesh's Northeastern regions.^[3] European Commission reports claimed that at least 15 people killed from landslides and 51,000 people displaced. It also noted that over half of the farmland and paddy fields in the Sylhet District were submerged.^[1]

From 18 to 19 June 2024, heavy rainfall struck multiple refugee camps in Cox's Bazar in Southeastern Bangladesh, causing widespread flooding and at least 773 landslide incidents. At least ten people died, seven of whom were Rohingya refugees, while nearly 8,000 people across 1,200 different shelters in 33 refugee camps were also affected.^[2]

On August 21, 2024, heavy rainfall triggered flash floods in Bangladesh. Several Bangladeshi media outlets attributed the flooding to the alleged opening of the sluice gates of the Dumbur Dam on the Gumti river in Tripura, India. The following day, Nahid Islam, the advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, also accused India of deliberately releasing water by opening the dam's gates.^[4]

However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs denied these allegations. Ratan Lal Nath, the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Power, and Election in Tripura, clarified in a Facebook post on August 21 that the dam's gates had opened automatically due to unprecedented water levels in the reservoir, however Nath's claims are still contested. On August 22, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Kumar Verma contacted with Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus to inform him that the gates had opened "automatically" due to the rising water levels.^[4]

At least 1,800,000 people were in the affected area, inundating at least hundreds of villages in 6 districts.^[5][6][7] On 23 August, it was reported that at least 23 people had died from flash flooding in eastern Bangladesh, and that over 4.5 million people were affected.^[8]