would you pray...

...for the country of Bangladesh? I received an email today from the director of Surfing the Nations (That's the organization that I have worked and partnered with in the past. I traveled to Bangladesh two years ago with 4 others from STN.) There is a team there now and Tom sent me this article from Reuters::

DHAKA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Two children drowned, about 400 fishermen were
missing and thousands of people were marooned after storm-whipped waves from the Bay of Bengal swept Bangladesh's vast coastline, officials said on Wednesday.Sea
water flooded at least three towns -- Patuakhali, Jhalakathi and part of Cox's
Bazar -- forcing many residents to flee as others huddled in their homes braving
strong wind and heavy rain.Weather officials said the sea surge was triggered by
a depression in the northern Bay, likely to persist for a couple of days.They
warned there could be more surge and flooding even though the depression was
likely to cross India's Orissa coast by Wednesday evening.Two children have
drowned in Cox's Bazar beach district, where fishing community leaders said
around 400 fishermen were missing at sea."The Bay has been very rough since
Monday, when dozens of boats managed to return to the shores, but about 400
fishermen in more than 30 boats are still unaccounted for," said Nurul Islam
Nuru, fishing community leader. He hoped all or most of them would come back
alive."Fishermen did return safely even weeks after previous storms," a Cox's
Bazar journalist said.Nurul said the boats went deep into the sea this time
defying storm warnings, lured by hopes of more big catches of the Hilsha fish
swarming in large numbers into the nets in recent weeks.The silvery Hilshas
often sell at high prices and are exported to India.Tidal waves spawned by the
storm have inundated Patuakhali town and dozens of islands along the coast,
officials and weather monitors said.Ports have been asked to hoist distant
warning signals while fishing trawlers and ships were advised to come back or
stay close to shore.The flooding damaged hundreds of homes, crops and fish
farms, local officials said, without estimating losses.The sea waves struck
while much of the country was still reeling under monsoon floods that have
killed at least 20 people in the country's northeastern areas over the past
month.The deluge made thousands homeless and have caused water-borne diseases in the affected areas.Bangladesh, home to more than 140 million people, faces
frequent floods and storms that claim hundreds of lives every year, and leave
millions homeless.In November last year, Cyclone Sidr killed over 3,300 people
and destroyed homes, crops and infrastructure worth billions of dollars across a
vast swathe of coastal area. (Writing by Anis Ahmed; Editing by Jerry
Norton)

Please pray for the town of Cox's Bazar where I have many friends (and the
place where the team is now. )