Cyclone AILA hit the south-western coast of Bangladesh at 2 pm local time on 25 May 2009, the roaring winds of up to 90 kilometers per hour created tidal waves of up to 10 feet high which smashed into hundreds of villages killing about 120 people and washing away several thousand homes, standing crops and a large number of livestock.
Eight of the ten districts whose southern edge forms the coastline of Bangladesh were severely affected. Food and drinking water sources were obliterated and making these available became the first priority of all organisations engaged in relief work in the affected region.
Crown Agents Bangladesh inspected emergency relief goods (in the last week of June 2009) for distribution by the Bangladesh Delegation of International Federation of Red Crescent Society (IFRCS) to the people affected by Cyclone AILA.
The goods inspected were 200 tons of rice, 50 tons of lentils, 20,000 liters of soya bean oil and 10 tons of salt. These were distributed as emergency relief to 10,000 families affected by the cyclone. The goods were inspected at the supplier's warehouse prior to delivery and then re-inspected at the IFRCS warehouses of the affected districts to detect pilferage in transit when it arrived there. The essence of the work was to inspect the goods quickly but carefully so that only high quality goods reached the waiting families on schedule.
Sharf Ahmed and Mahmudul Kabir, the General Manager and Deputy General Manager of Crown Agents Bangladesh organised the available human resources and even detected pilferage of lentils at three of the eight delivery points earning appreciation from IFRCS.