The serious humanitarian crisis that Cyclone Sidr left in its wake in November 2007 prompted an immediate national and international reaction. The government of Bangladesh,7 Bangladesh armed forces, civil society, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers moved with speed and commitment to mobilise a massive humanitarian response to the disaster.

Planning for the emergency was already well under way before Cyclone Sidr ever struck land: early-warning systems and disaster-preparedness measures allowed a reported 3,000,000 people to evacuate low-lying coastal areas8 and local government officials and NGOs to rapidly move contingency stocks from neighbouring districts into the areas of anticipated impact.