Staff Correspondent:

Authorities have warned of possible flash floods in four districts within the next 24 hours as river water levels continue to rise due to heavy rainfall in India’s Assam and Meghalaya states and persistent local showers in northern Bangladesh.

The districts at risk include Sherpur and Netrokona in the Mymensingh division, and Sylhet and Sunamganj in the Sylhet division.

According to local officials, rising river levels, particularly the Chelakhali River in Sherpur, are already crossing danger thresholds.

At 10am on Tuesday, the Chelakhali River was flowing 106 centimetres above the danger mark — a steep increase from 39 centimetres just 12 hours earlier, according to data from the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).

“The risk of flash floods is high within the next 24 hours in these districts as hill runoff is expected to start flowing through local rivers,” said Mostofa Kamal Polash, a meteorologist at private weather website Abhawa.com. He noted that persistent rainfall has been recorded in Sherpur over the past four days, further straining local river systems.

Polash added that moderate to heavy rainfall is likely to continue across Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions between Tuesday morning and Wednesday noon. Radar data from the Bangladesh Air Force shows successive waves of rain and thunderstorms moving from the northwest toward the northeast over these regions.

“Rain activity is also beginning in southern parts of the country, particularly across Barishal and Chattogram divisions,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

The BWDB has also confirmed a renewed rise in water levels since early Tuesday due to heavy upstream rainfall.

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation and urge residents in low-lying and riverside areas to stay alert.