Risks and Hazards

The coastal areas of Cox's Bazar are prone to devastating cyclones and landslides on a yearly basis. The areas near the Cox’s Bazar town are located directly in the high risk area for surge water heights above 1 meter^[15] as well as landslides.^[16] There was a 70% casualty rate near the town area during the 1991 cyclone.^[15] Another hazard of the Cox's Bazar area is the high natural background radiation which has been found to be above global average.^[17] There has been reported incidents of human casualty due to actions of wild elephants in the locality.^[18] The threat of mosquito borne diseases like Malaria also may be higher in the area.^[19] However, all these hazards mainly affect long term residents of the area and visiting tourists should be able to guard against these risks with appropriate precautions.