Cyclone Sidr struck the southern coast of Bangladesh later Thursday night, with winds up to 155 mph blowing away entire homes. Others were downed or lost at sea. Experts say that Sidr was similar in strength to a 1991 storm which killed at least 140,000 people. However, though the body count continues to rise, officials expect that the death toll will be less this time due to a network of cyclone shelters, early-warning, and an evacuation system.

More than 2,000 people have been killed and millions made homeless after Bangladesh was hit by its worst cyclone in a decade.

Rescue workers are struggling to reach hundreds of thousands of people who have been trapped for three days without food or water, officials told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

“We are expecting that thousands of dead bodies may be found within a few days, said Shekhar Chandra Das, the deputy head of the government’s disaster management office.

About 1,000 fishermen and 150 boats remain unaccounted for in the Bay of Bengal, Red Crescent officials said.

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