Relief workers and the Bangladesh military said today they had reached the last remaining pockets of the country devastated by a cyclone that killed nearly 3,500 people.
It has taken some five days to gain access to the hardest hit areas along the Bay of Bengal in an operation involving helicopters, planes and boats, as well as thousands of ground troops and aid workers.
But food supplies were still woefully inadequate. "Hundreds of hands go up to grab just one food packet. This is a mad rush but a tragic reality on the entire coastline ravaged by the cyclone," said a relief operator in the Patuakhali district.
"Food, clothes and shelter are needed immediately for the survivors who are resilient and are trying to start the life anew," said Louis-Georges Arsenault, of the UN children's fund, UNICEF, after visiting some of the worst hit areas.
The country's army-backed interim government said supplies would increase in coming weeks once $142 million in promised emergency relief from international donors and the King of Saudi Arabia arrives.
Officials in the affected areas - mostly inhabited by fishermen but also some farmers - said a shortage of drinking water and medicine had caused outbreaks of diarrhoea in many places.
The navy and coastguard started to work on rebuilding homes, defence sources said, and troops were helping civil officials to remove uprooted trees blocking highways.
The Category Four cyclone struck late last Thursday with 155 mph winds that whipped up a 16-foot tidal surge.
The disaster was the worst in the impoverished country of 140 million since 1991 when a cyclone and storm surge killed around 143,000 people.